From Madurai, a prince of chess emerges

The king has lost his crown, but a prince has emerged. Madurai kid Vr. Aravindh Chithambaram, 14, has served notice of his prodigious talent by winning a grandmaster tournament here ahead of 21 GMs, five WGMs, 30 IMs and three WIMs in Chennai on Saturday. He’s only a Fide Master, a title many rungs lower than the top players in the game.
The current Asian U-14 champion defeated four GMs — Drazic Sinisa (Serbia), Ter-Sahakyan Samvel (Armenia), M. R. Lalith Babu and M. Shyam Sundar (both India) — and two IMs to score nine points from 11 rounds and win his first big title. Aravindh, seeded 53 in the tournament, also earned his first IM and first GM norms in the process.
“I am very happy. I did not expect to win this tournament. Only when I emerged as a sole leader in the penultimate round did I dream about this victory. In the final round, I was holding a minus position against GM V. Vishnu Prasanna, but he made a mistake and I was able to draw the game,” Aravindh told this newspaper.
The Madurai boy lost his father when he was three years old and his mother Vr. Deivanai earns her livelihood as a small savings agent. The family moved to Chennai recently because Velammal School here has promised support for Aravindh.