Surya Shekhar Ganguly facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Surya Shekhar Ganguly |
|
|---|---|
Ganguly at Tata Steel Chess, Kolkata, 2018
|
|
| Country | India |
| Born | 24 February 1983 Kolkata, India |
| Title | Grandmaster (2003) |
| FIDE rating | 2635 (July 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2676 (July 2016) |
| Peak ranking | No. 55 (March 2010) |
Surya Shekhar Ganguly (born February 24, 1983) is a famous Indian chess player. He holds the highest title in chess, known as a Grandmaster. He became an International Master at 16 and a Grandmaster at 19. His highest chess rating was 2676 in July 2016.
Surya has won many medals in chess tournaments. He has 40 individual gold medals, 21 silver, and 6 bronze medals. He also helped his team win 12 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze medals. In 2020, he led the Indian team to second place in the Asian Nations Online Cup.
The Indian government gave him the special Arjuna Award in 2005 for his amazing sports achievements. He also received the "Bangabhusan" award in 2015, which is a very high civilian award in West Bengal.
Surya was the National chess champion for six years in a row (2003–2008). He also won the Asian championship in 2009. He was part of the team that helped Viswanathan Anand win the World Chess Championship three times (2008, 2010, and 2012).
In 2024, a film called Dabaru was made, inspired by his life story.
Contents
Surya's Amazing Chess Achievements
Surya Shekhar Ganguly has played in many chess tournaments. These include both national and international events. He has won a total of 40 individual gold medals. He also has 21 individual silver and 6 individual bronze medals. As a team member, he has won 12 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze medals. He earned his International Master (IM) title in 2000. He became a Grandmaster (GM) at the 35th Chess Olympiad in 2002.
National Chess Wins
Surya has achieved a lot in chess within India. He won the National Under-10 and Under-12 championships multiple times. Here are some of his other big wins:
- National Cities 1999: His team won the championship.
- National "B" 1999: Surya won this event when he was just 16.
- National Junior 1999/2000: He was the champion.
- National "A": He won the Indian National Championship six times in a row. This was from 2003 to 2008, which is a record!
- National Team: His team won the championship in 2001, 2002, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
- National Rapid 2005: He was the champion.
Asian Chess Success
Surya has also done very well in chess events across Asia:
- Asian Continental Championship: He won a bronze medal in 2001 and a gold medal in 2009. He also got a silver medal in 2015.
- Asian Zonal: He won silver in 2001 and gold in 2003 and 2007.
- Asian Team Chess Championship: His team, India, won silver medals in 2003, 2007, and 2008. They won gold medals in 2005 (where he also got an individual gold) and 2009.
- Asian Indoor Games 2007: He won two silver medals and one gold medal.
- Asian Games 2010: He played for the Indian team that won a bronze medal. He played very well, with four wins and four draws.
- Asian Indoor Games 2017: He won a bronze medal in Turkmenistan.
- Asian Team Championship 2018: He won bronze medals in both the Classical and Rapid events in Iran.
World Team and Olympiad Games
Surya has represented India on the world stage:
- Olympiads: He has played for India in six Chess Olympiads (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010). He earned his Grandmaster title at the 35th Olympiad in Slovenia in 2002.
- World Team Chess Championship: In 2010, his team won a bronze medal. He also won an individual gold medal in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 2019.
Other International Tournaments
Surya has won or placed high in many other international tournaments:
- Goodricke International 2000: He earned his IM title here.
- World Junior 2002: He won a bronze medal.
- Bangladesh International 2005: He was the champion.
- ONGC International 2006: He was the champion.
- Commonwealth Open: He won gold in the Junior section in 2000 and 2003/2004. He then won silver in the Open section in 2007 and 2008.
- Sydney International 2008: He was the champion.
- Parsvanath International 2009: He won gold after getting silver in 2008.
- Indonesia Open Chess Championship 2011: He was a joint winner.
- Fujairah INT Masters Tournament 2012: He won this strong tournament in the UAE.
- LIC 2nd International Grand Masters Chess Tournament 2015: He won this tournament in Kolkata, India.
- 16th Bangkok Chess Club Open 2016: He won this tournament.
- O2C Doeberl Cup Premier 2017: He won this tournament with a score of 8 out of 9.
- Hunan International Open, China, 2019: He was the champion.
Surya's Early Chess Journey
Surya was born in Kolkata on February 24, 1983. His grandfather, Anil Basumallick, taught him how to play chess when he was only 5 years old. Surya quickly became well-known in Kolkata's chess world. He was often the youngest player in tournaments but still managed to win prizes.
In 1991, at the age of 8, he won both the Indian National Under-10 and Under-12 Championships. He won these same championships again in 1992 and 1995.
Here are some of his achievements in the World Youth Chess Championship:
- World U-10 Championship, Warsaw 1991: He won a bronze medal on his first trip outside India.
- World U-10 Championship, Bratislava 1993: He shared a bronze medal.
- World U-12 Championship, Szeged 1994: He shared a bronze medal.
- World U-12 Championship, St. Lorenzo 1995: He won a silver medal.
In 1995, when he was 11, Surya beat a Grandmaster. At that time, he was the youngest player ever to do so!
Working with Chess Legend Viswanathan Anand
Surya Ganguly was an important member of the team that helped Viswanathan Anand prepare for his World Chess Championship matches. Anand is a former World Champion himself. Surya helped Anand win against top players like Vladimir Kramnik (2008), Veselin Topalov (2010), and Boris Gelfand (2012).
Other strong chess players were also part of this team, including Peter Heine Nielsen, Radosław Wojtaszek, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.
Anand has often praised Surya for his hard work and effectiveness as a team member. Anand said that Surya is a very good chess player and analyst who works very hard. He also mentioned that they have worked together for many years and plan to continue doing so because their teamwork is successful.
Surya's Personal Life
Surya Shekhar Ganguly was born to Pankaj and Aarti Ganguly. He has an older sister who is a doctor. He works as a Senior Manager at the Indian Oil Corporation. In 2011, he married Sudeshna Dutta, who is a doctor in biotechnology. They have two children, a daughter and a son.
Images for kids
-
Surya Shekhar Ganguly as a child.
-
A chess position from a game involving Anand and Ganguly.
