He is the Kingmaker

We always talk about the greatness of champions and praise them for what they are capable of. However, we often forget to appreciate the significant role that a coach plays in a player’s game, especially in chess. GM Pentala Harikrishna, who is currently contesting at Tata Steel Masters, is the only player who has helped both the current World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and the current Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun!

In a sport like chess which becomes extremely preparation-dominant as one moves up the ranks, the work that your seconds (coaching/preparation team) do becomes of immense importance. Peter Heine Nielsen is the name that pops up in the head when we say Kingmaker – who has been a long-time coach of 5x Former World Champion Magnus Carlsen and another 5x Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand. But it is almost never that we hear a second who has assisted at TWO current World Champions’ camps!

Harikrishna has been as high as 2770 at his peak, almost a decade ago, and is proving his longevity as a player by giving the best in the world a run for their money at Wijk aan Zee. Even though Harikrishna was invited as a replacement for Vidit Gujrathi at Tata Steel Masters, Hari made a statement in the first round itself when none other than India No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi bowed down to him. The 38-year-old is moving steadily with 3.5 points (+1) after 6 rounds of play.

Photo credit: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess