Chess: Negi’s Short steps to stardom

When you are the second youngest Grandmaster in the world, the pressures of expectations can be quite crushing, as 15-year-old Parimarjan Negi found out the hard way.

Ever since he managed the incredible feat of earning three GM norms in the space of six months in 2006 to dethrone Danish prodigy Magnus Carlsen in second place and become a GM at the tender age of 13 years, four months and 22 days, Negi has been the focus of attention wherever he plays. And he realises he needs to tighten up his mental attitude if he is to fulfil the promise.

Speaking to XPRESS after a not-so-encouraging run at the Dubai Open, where he finished with six points from nine rounds, India's youngest GM said: "I need to do something about my mental approach. I always fall away in a tournament after a loss and even in a game, I give up too easily if I don't like the position. I need to bring toughness and consistency into my game," he said.

Negi's career is being guided in the right direction by none other than British Super GM Nigel Short and the Indian feels his visits to Greece, where the former challenger to Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1993 resides, have been very fruitful.

"I visit him three to four times a year to work on different aspects of my game. When I became a GM, my opening was not so good, which has improved considerably since then. Now, I need to improve my endgame," he said. Known as Batu to his friends, a nickname he doesn't fancy that much, the Class X student of Amity International School, Saket, is quite clear about his goals for the year. "It will be a difficult time with my board exams coming up, but on the chess front my goal is to reach the 2,600 Elo rating. I was at 2,538, but I am now at 2,514," he said.

Next up is a tournament in Belgium where Negi will be hoping he can begin the resurrection process.