Krishnan Sasikiran (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: கிருஷ்ணன் சசிகிரண்; born 7 January 1981) is an Indian

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. He was one of

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 The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

s in the

World Chess Championship 2013 The World Chess Championship 2013 was a match between reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Magnus Carlsen, to determine the World Chess Champion. It was held from 7 to 25 November 2013 in Chennai, India, under the auspices o ...

Chess career

Born in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, Sasikiran won the Indian Chess Championship for the first time in 1999 and won it again in 2002, 2003, and 2013. In 1999, he also won the Asian Junior Chess Championship in

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is an important port city in southern Vietnam. It serves as the maritime port of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Vũng Tàu covers of area and consists of 16 urban wards and on ...

, Vietnam. Sasikiran completed the requirements for the Grandmaster title at the 2000 Commonwealth Championship. In 2001, he won the prestigious Hastings International Chess tournament. In 2003, he won the 4th Asian Individual Championship as well as the Politiken Cup in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Sasikiran tied with

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known a ...

for first place in the 2005 Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament, which took place in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

and Copenhagen. In 2006, he tied for first place at the Aeroflot Open in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

with Baadur Jobava,

Victor Bologan Victor (Viorel) Bologan (born 14 December 1971) is a List of Moldovans, Moldovan chess player and author. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster by FIDE in 1991. Career Bologan won the first two editions of the Poikovsky A ...

and

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oglu Mammadyarov (; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is Azerbaijan's highest rated chess player. His personal best rating of 2820 makes him the sixth-h ...

, finishing third on tiebreak score. Later in the same year, Sasikiran won a gold medal in the 2006 Asian Games' team event.

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

government presented a cheque of Rs 20 Lakhs as appreciation for his success. He was also bestowed with 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 2002. In the January 2007

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

rating list, Sasikiran was ranked number 21 in the world with an

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

of 2700.Topalov still tops the list, Anand four points behind

ChessBase ChessBase is a German company that develops and sells chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates an internet chess server for online chess. Founded in 1986, it maintains and sells large-scale databases containing the moves of recor ...

. He became only the second chess player from India to reach Elo rating of 2700.It's a dream come true for Sasikiran

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

. In December 2008, he won City of

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

international chess tournament, a category 16 event with average Elo above 2640, by one-point margin with a rating performance of 2795. Sasikiran triumphs
The Hindu. In 2009, he tied for 2nd-3rd with

Étienne Bacrot Étienne Bacrot (; born 22 January 1983) is a French chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, and as a child, a chess prodigy. He competed at the World Chess Championship 2007, Candidates Matches in 2007 and won the Aeroflot Open in 2009. He pas ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. In May 2011, Sasikiran won the Asian

Blitz Chess Fast chess, also known as speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. A ...

Championship in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

on tiebreak over Wesley So and Bu Xiangzhi, after all three players finished on 7/9 points. In October of the same year, he placed clear first in the open section of the 15th Corsican Circuit. He reached semi-final stage of the Corsica Masters knockout rapid tournament losing to eventual winner Anand. At the 2014 Chess Olympiad in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

he scored 7.5/10 points on board three to help the Indian team to win the bronze medal. Sasikiran also won the individual silver medal on board three.

Correspondence chess

Krishnan Sasikiran is also a very successful

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less commo ...

player. In 2015, he achieved the title of an International Master (IM) and in 2016 he became Senior International Master (SIM). Norms for both titles he fulfilled at the ''Marian Vinchev Memorial'' and the ''Palciauskas Invitational''.Sasikiran at ICCF
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Personal life

Sasikiran completed his education in the Modern Senior Secondary School of Nanganallur, Chennai. He is married to Radhika and has a daughter.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sasikiran, Krishnan 1981 births Living people Tamil sportspeople Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games medalists in chess Chess players at the 2006 Asian Games Chess players at the 2010 Asian Games 21st-century Indian chess players Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Sportspeople from Chennai