Dibyendu Barua (born 27 October 1966) is an Indian

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

. He is a three-time Indian Chess Champion. He was the second Indian chess player, after

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...

, second Bengali after Niaz Murshed, and third South Asian after Niaz and Anand to achieve the title of

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster.

Chess career

Dibyendua Barua was born in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

from where his family migrated to

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. In 1978, Barua, as a 12-year-old, became the youngest participant in the Indian Chess Championship. In 1982, Barua defeated the then-world number two ranked

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Bor ...

in the Lloyd's Bank Tournament in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1983, he became the youngest national champion, a record that was beaten by a few months by

in 1986.Hari Hara Nandanan,
The long awaited reward for Barua
', Indian Express, 1 February 1991 (accessed on 11 November 2023) He has since won it twice more, in 1998 and 2001. He won the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 1983 after winning the nationals. Barua won his first Grandmaster norm in the Natwest Trophy in London in September 1989. In the

29th Chess Olympiad The 29th Chess Olympiad (, ''29. Šahovska olimpijada''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as s ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

in 1990, Barua won the gold on the second board with a 2644 elo point performance for his second norm. He won his third and final Grandmaster norm in 1991 in the Duncan GM tournament in Kolkata. Barua participated in the World U-14 championship in Mexico in 1979 finishing third and in 1980 finished fourth in the World sub-junior. Barua married the Women International Master Saheli Dhar in 1997.Indian chess Grandmaster Dibyendu Baruah to marry fellow chess player Saheli Dhar
India Today, 31 March 1997 (accessed 28 November 2023)

References

External links

* * 1966 births Living people Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Indian Buddhists Indian chess players Recipients of the Arjuna Award Hare School alumni Sportspeople from Chittagong Sportspeople from Kolkata {{India-chess-bio-stub