PANAJI
Today, December 30, wecelebrate India’s first International Master, and first ArjunaAwardee in chess, Manuel Aaron’s 90th birthday.
The pioneer in chess inthe country, spoke on call with The Goan, on the eve ofhis milestone birthday. Aaron heartily reveals that staying connectedto chess does play a part in longevity. “It keeps your mind sharp.You have to examine a lot of things in chess, which normally in lifeyou would look at everything superficially. In chess, you go deepinto it and analyse everything yourself,” he opined.
He might be the ‘GrandOld Man of Indian Chess,’ but Aaron is still very young andrejuvenated in spirit. This reflects on his routine. “I sleep forabout six hours a day, but not at a stretch. Generally, I sleep fromaround midnight to 3 or 4 in the morning. After I wake up, I keepworking on my computer until 7 or 8 am,” he confesses. His workrevolves around chess, as an honorary editor of Chess Mate monthly,and as the Director of Aaron Chess Academy. “I keep everythingready for the children at my academy. I give them puzzles andproblems to solve. Besides that, I do a lot of journalistic work forthe monthly chess magazine I introduced in print in January 1983,”Aaron disclosed.
Aaron was quite thenatural in chess; “I learnt chess by watching my parents play. Iwas only about 5 or 6. Picking up the game, coincided with the WorldWar II. I used to read the war news on the newspaper, ‘The Mailthen. I was drawn to the chess column that appeared as well,” hereminisced.
While schooling in TamilNadu, Aaron used to play chess with one of his uncles who had areputation in the family as a fine player. “When he visited us, weused to play chess and sometimes, I used to beat him. And this amazedthe family, as he was supposed to be the best player in the family,and I was only 12,” Aaron stated.
Later, in 1952, Aaronmoved to Allahabad where his father worked. There everyone wasplaying Indian chess unlike in Tamil Nadu where international chesswas familiar. Aaron also picked up that variant of chess as well. Hewas also introduced to a chess lover, Dr. Majumdar who taught at theAllahabad University. Dr. Majumdar used to organize chess meetingsat his home and a young Aaron used to enthusiastically cycle his wayto attend. “While I was studying at Allahabad, I was introduced tocorrespondence chess by Dr. Majumdar. I played chess with playersacross the country by sending 1 anna postcards with my move. At thetime, I had only one book on chess, Modern Chess Openings (MCO)gifted to me by my sister,” Aaron revealed.
A dominant chess playerin India in the 1960s to the 1980s, Aaron was the national championof India nine times between 1959 and 1981. He first participated inthe National Championship in Poona in 1957 where despite stayingundefeated, he came second to the eventual champion, Ramdas Gupta(Kanpur) who ended the tournament a point ahead. Eventually, Aarontasted success at the next Nationals hosted in Delhi two years later,which began his reign of dominance on the Indian chess scene.
At the internationallevel, Aaron had his share of limelight. His win against the formerWorld Champion, Max Euwe at the Chess Olympiad in 1960 at Leipzigbrought him under the spotlight. “After his loss to me, Euwe didnot get up in a huff and run away. We analysed the game, and spokeabout Indian chess and Mir Sultan Khan (British India player),”Aaron disclosed. The first legend in Indian chess, went on torepresent the country on two subsequent Chess Olympiads for hiscountry, in Varna 1962 and Tel Aviv 1964 respectively.
Aaron also won the WestAsian Zonal against Mongolia’s Sukien Momo 3-1, after going down inthe first game. This win earned him the prestige of becoming India’sfirst International Master. “I do not think I was overjoyed orthought I became a great person (on the IM title). Later on, peoplewere inspired to defeat me as I was the only International Master inIndia. This motivated me to become a still stronger player,” Aarondivulged. The win against Momo, earned him the right to play theAsian-Australian Zonal final against Cecil Purdy of Australia in1961, which he won outright 3-0. Honouring his achievements as thetrailblazer in Indian Chess, Aaron became the first-ever chess playerto win the Arjuna Award in 1962. After his wins at the Asian level,Aaron qualified to represent India at the Stockholm Interzonal in1962.
Looking at where Indiastands in chess today, Aaron expressed satisfaction. “It is verygood. So many players are becoming GMs. Not only GMs, we have had oursecond World Champion after Viswanathan Anand. We have the WorldChampion Gukesh who is being challenged by others like Arjun Erigaisiand R Praggnanandhaa. So many talented players are coming up,” apleased Aaron remarked.
