GM Vishnu Prasanna is India's 33rd grandmaster. He has worked as a second to GM Baskaran Adhibanand has also coached many chess players since 2016 including GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly. India's second-highest-rated player, GM Gukesh D, is also his student and they have been working together for the last five years.
In this interview, Chess.com India talked with Vishnu about his coaching career as well as Gukesh's chess journey. The interview was conducted via a video call, and text has been edited for clarity or length.
Chess.com India: When did you start playing chess?
Vishnu Prasanna: (Laughs.) That was ages ago, maybe two decades ago. When I was about twelve years old, I joined the Solar Chess Club in Mylapore. My father taught me the initial moves.
When you were growing up as a player, did you have a role model or favorite players?
I was very much into cricket. So, my mother made me play chess because of GM Vishy Anand! He had won the FIDE World Cup in 2000 in Delhi at that time. I started chess because of Vishy and that's how it is for a lot of players in India. He is somebody I looked up to. Coming to favorite players, it keeps changing. My favorite player at that time was GM Garry Kasparov because of the literature I could read. Kasparov's books were the only accessible literature for me. I would say that Kasparov and Anand were huge influences. Currently, I feel that the favorite player keeps changing.
When and how did you enter the coaching field?
I started coaching somewhere between 2015 and 2016. In the beginning, it was just a way to support myself financially. It turned out that I have a knack for ita talent for it, I guess! In a way, I was always studying chess a lot. Teaching also helped me to put those things into thoughts, thoughts into words, and words that I could share with others.
One of my early students was IM Sidhant Mohopatra from Orissa. He was the first student who became a titled player. After that, a lot of people started asking me for training, and I continued coaching players.
Did you have a role model as a trainer?
No, not really. You can say that I was using my own mistakes to train. This is something that I learned through my mentorSrikanth Govind. It is a little bit about Bruce Lee's philosophy. Not teaching anything very specific but working with the individual.
Did you pursue coaching full-time, or did you combine it with your own tournaments?
It was never a plan to do only coaching. I always enjoy playing, and I'm still continuing to play. Most of my training is also very practical. Playing also helps me to stay in touch. I don't think I will ever stop playing.
Coming to the news of the hour: Gukesh! When did you first realize that Gukesh was special?
He had a very fine positional sense from early on. Our first group camp was in June 2017, and we had individual sessions in the next month. Two months later, Gukesh scored his first IM norm and also became an IM very soon after. We had early successes, and I felt that he was not an average kid for sure. You can never say how fast anyone is going to growthere are stumbles and things that could go wrong at any moment. I knew that he was very strong. For an 11-year-old, some of the moves he suggested were very difficult, and that was something.
Could you give an example or an instance from those early years that made an impression on you?
He was very positionally sound. He played in the center much more than most people I know. I come from a street chess/aggressive kind of school, but the boy was very sound. For instance, we looked at this classic game between Krogius and Smyslov. You expect Black to display some kind of aggression in the position and win the game through an attack, but Smyslov remains super patient with his play and slowly outplays his opponent. Special mention to the move: 20...Rfc8.
This move was quite natural to Gukesh at that point in time. Even as a player, it was not natural to me. So yeah, a lot of things like that. He obviously had weaknesses also, but these were anomalies. 20...Rfc8 is not what most 11-year-olds would spot in that position. They are more likely to spot ideas connected with tactics or tricks.
You were with Gukesh when he was rated 2200. You are now with Gukesh as he is 2700+. Can you review the critical moments of this journey from your perspective?
It is hard to pinpoint everything, but I'll share whatever I remember off the top of my head. The first big thing was his GM norm that he got at the Bangkok Open in Thailand which he got with a little bit of luck. He got lucky in his game against GM Nigel Short. It was not a clean win, but you need luck like that. It sometimes means that fate is helping you even when you are not ready. This was a big moment for him. Gukesh thought: "Maybe, I can become a GM very quickly."
Throughout that year, he kept working and made his remaining GM norms. He made his final GM norm in Delhi. Chasing the records plays on your mind, and Gukesh was fairly upset that he could not finish the final norm in Spain. He had an opportunity to do it there, but he eventually did it 17 days later in Delhi.
There were failures and disappointments, but his understanding improved from those experiences. He was struggling a little bit in a certain sense while he was between 2570-2580, but he was anyway strong, and so he continued to climb. I think that he was still making some practical decisions that could have been easily avoided. He managed to reduce unforced errors.
One of the recent critical moments for me was his performance in Armenia. He was playing really well and had climbed to 2640. Then he played two bad tournaments and came down to 2614. We decided that we had to regroup and do something serious in order to cross 2700. Actually, I thought he was ready and felt that if he maintained consistency, he would break the 2700 barrier. After Armenia, he knew he had to be consistent. He understood that losing a game at this level is a fairly expensive endeavor. So, he tried to focus on that aspect, and he has been doing brilliantly over the last few months. No complaints!
Do you set the goals, or does Gukesh set them on his own?
Gukesh decides for himself. I just say that it's a long journey anyway and ask him not to overestimate anything and keep his head in the zone. He is reacting to goals better. I think he responded much better to the 2700 goal, and he definitely didn't slow down there, which is always good.
What do you have to say about the strategy of playing in many open events in a row?
I think the strategy depends on the player. Everybody eats according to their appetite. So, that's something we also discussed. When he was very young, his appetite was higher. It still remains much higher than an average player, I guess. He still likes to play a lot. So, there's no need to argue with that or fight against that. I think if he can maintain that level, he can play a lot. There's nothing wrong with that.
What tournaments will Gukesh play after the Turkish League? (Gukesh is currently playing in the Turkish league.)
He will play in the Spanish League and the European Club Cup. If he is invited to play in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz (in Kolkata), he will play there, or he will play in the World Rapid and Blitz event.
So, that's a busy schedule ahead?
Yeah, definitely. Nowadays, it is very different compared to five years ago. The value of preparation and stuff like that... you can only do so much by sitting at home. Everything changes too fast. So, if you have the energy and appetite, you play.
You mentioned that you were expecting Gukesh to make the climb to 2700. So, you were not surprised by his progress in the last three months?
No, not at all. I was not surprised until the Olympiad. (Smiles.) Everything was fairly normal to me, and I thought that we were headed in the right direction.
How many hours does Gukesh practice chess?
We have never discussed such things. When the interest is there, you don't have to really worry about such things. I think most of the day is spent on chess. It is not just the physical hours he is sitting on the board. He is always thinking about how he can improve, and that's very powerful.
Gukesh didn't use an engine to help him prepare until he reached 2550. Was this a mutual decision or your approach?I told him that it is an idea he can pursue, and he is the only one who pursued my recommendation. I gave the recommendation as an idea. At the FM level, I thought it doesn't matter so mucheven at the GM level. There will always be many mistakes in the game. So I asked him to play for that and asked him to work on other things.
So, you are saying that he would analyze all the games and the mistakes on his own without help in checking the evaluations?
Yes! Just like the old times. Nothing new. Just like chess 15 years ago! I thought it would help him develop his own thinking process and would sharpen him faster.
Did you also use this idea in your own experience?
Yeah. I have tried not to use engines for most of the time in my life.
Gukesh had a few second-place finishes. How did you motivate him to win events after that?
That's not how we work. I believe that everything should come from the selfdiscipline or motivation. We always discussed that only number one matters. It has to be intrinsic, and that's how it has been for Gukesh. I think he is always keen on finishing first wherever he plays.
Shifting now to the 44th Chess Olympiad, did you speak to Gukesh after his soul-crushing loss to GM Abdusattarov Nodirbek?
I was not present at the venue, so I left him a message: such things happen in chess too. I think he has been there before, and this is not his first soul-crushing loss. So, I just left a message and I don't know if he even saw it.
He likes to be in his own zone during the event. So, I don't interfere with that. Vishy Anand had a long talk with him, trying to console him, and Gukesh even played the last round. I wasn't sure about that. When I saw the pairings, I thought, OK, he should be fine.
Where do you see Gukesh one year from now?
I don't really know yet, but I think he will still keep going forward. I don't know how far, but he will keep going in the next year. If he gets the opportunity to play with elite players, he will be up to it.
If you had to attribute the number-one skill to Gukeshs success, what would that be?His tremendous appetite for chessfor both studying and playing chess. I think that kind of appetite is absolutely necessary for what he has done.
Congrats on becoming a father recently. How has that changed you as a person and a coach?
As a coach, I don't know. As a person, you become more patient and become more aware of the little things. You pay more attention; it's a treat. There's nothing to complain about, and it's been a wonderful experience.
Regarding coaching, I have been mostly not doing much. I've only been in touch with Gukesh. I am heading an academy in Sivakasi and my own academy in Chennai. The academy at Sivakasi is set by the Hatsun company. I am the head coach there and have been managing the coaching for them. Personal training, well it is just Gukesh right now. I have been training with other players on and off, but not as much as I used to.
How do you upgrade your skills as a coach these days?
Through experience and interaction with others. When you meet a lot of people, you can see that they are also different. What worked for one person may not work for another. You try to see how else can you make the other player think or how else can you question them or how else can you prompt them to research. I think about the tools that don't exist but could exist and try to bridge that gap through the selection of positions, games etc. I think about what's missing between players of two levels. I'm usually on the lookout for such things. You can see that sometimes there's a pattern there, but most people don't see the same thing or most people could miss the same idea or most people of the same level could miss the same idea.
What are some recommendations you have for aspiring coaches?
That's a hard question! (laughs). Okay, they could start with Jonathan Rowson's books: Seven Deadly Chess Sins and Chess for Zebras. One of the books that had a huge influence on my chess understanding and chess coaching is Lasker's Manual Of Chess. It is a very deep book and one of the best chess books I've ever read, especially the part on positional play. Lasker explains how Steinitz came up with his theories and he also shares his arguments for and against those theories. I would also add GM Boris Gelfand's books.
As a coach, you have to look outside of chess also. Try to come up with your own training philosophy and work with that. The best way to train somebody is according to their belief system rather than yours. You help the student find their own compass and own parameters and assist them with that. Also, my belief is that the student is always a little bit smarter. So, I start from there. It is not always the case, but we have to start from there in my opinion.
Thank you for your time. We wish you the best in all your endeavors!
Thank you for having me. Nice to have this chat!
Special thanks to IM Rakesh Kulkarni for helping with the interview.
Here is the original post:
Interviewing The Coach Of Olympiad Sensation Gukesh - Chess.com
- The Silicon Gambit: How AI is Reshaping the World's Oldest Game - Chess.com - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- Gukesh wins Candidates: The boy raised without chess engines wholl challenge Ding Liren at World Championships - The Indian Express - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- Stars of the future shine in chess's ancestral homeland - Washington Times - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- The 15 Best Episodes of Cowboy Bebop - MovieWeb - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- Charge of the knight brigade: Indian teens storm global chess - IndiaTimes - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Knowing when to insist - ChessBase - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- World Cup: Pragg and Salimova win tiebreakers - ChessBase - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- What do F-16 and MiG-29 fighter jets do? - Times of Oman - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Xbox game releases August 21 to 27 - TrueAchievements - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Go! Guide Aug. 17 - The Republic - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- MinStrength: An Alternative to Performance Rating - ChessBase - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Mittens (chess engine) - Wikipedia - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- AlphaZero - Chess Engines - Chess.com - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- 2022 U.S. Chess Championships, Round 3: Earning Respect! | US Chess.org - uschess.org - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Go! Guide Oct. 13 - The Republic - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Events, sales and more things happening Downriver The News Herald - Southgate News Herald - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Chess cheating drama: What are the different ways to cheat in chess? - The Indian Express - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Formula 1 2022: How to Watch the Italian Grand Prix Today - CNET - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- The Machines That Made 500 Years of Circumnavigation Possible - Popular Mechanics - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Formula 1 2022: How to Watch the Belgian Grand Prix Today - CNET - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Kids want to grow, learn; are we planting seeds of knowledge? - Las Cruces Sun-News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- New: 3.h4 against the Kings Indian and Grnfeld - ChessBase India - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- A bright chess champ emerges from Thiruvallur - The New Indian Express - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Virtual Psychiatry is Here to Stay - Psychiatric Times - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Whatever Happened to the Transhumanists? - Gizmodo - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Beyond Carlsen: the devaluation of the World Chess Championship - TheArticle - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- Go! Guide July 21 - The Republic - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Chennai Chess Olympiad and AI - Analytics India Magazine - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Go! Guide July 23 - The Republic - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Was Basman right? Iconoclasm, ridicule and chess - TheArticle - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix Is Today: How to Watch the Race Live - CNET - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Sentience is the wrong discussion to have on AI right now - TechTalks - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Headlines at 10:30 am on 20th June 2022 - The Indian Express - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- 5 Chess Brilliancies That Stockfish Hates - Chess.com - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Carlsen Wins, Leads, Hits A 2870 Live Rating - Chess.com - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- 21 things to do with kids in San Diego County in June - The San Diego Union-Tribune - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Is This Cooling Technology Company Ready To Heat Up? - Benzinga - Benzinga - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Calendar of events and activities throughout Downriver - Southgate News Herald - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Tilting Point partners with Polygon on Web3 games - VentureBeat - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- Online booking agents have been behaving like kings - it's time to topple them - City A.M. - April 17th, 2022 [April 17th, 2022]
- Chess Games - Play Chess Games on CrazyGames - March 29th, 2022 [March 29th, 2022]
- A tale of two universities and two engines - Chess News - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Charity Cup: Anton wins three in a row to reach knockout - Chess News - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Formula 1: How to Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix and F1 Racing in 2022 - CNET - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Praggnanandhaa, 16, becomes only third Indian to beat Magnus Carlsen in stunning upset - ESPN - February 21st, 2022 [February 21st, 2022]
- Is Artificial Intelligence as Intelligent as We Think it is? - Analytics Insight - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Didnt Become a Hostage- Former World Chess Champion Calls Magnus Carlsen the Bridge Between Traditional and Modern Chess - EssentiallySports - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Can the academy rein in Big Tech? - Times Higher Education - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- FIDE World Women's Team Championship Final: Russia Wins Gold In Victory Over India - Chess.com - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Researchers warn that social media may be fundamentally at odds with science - TechCrunch - February 15th, 2022 [February 15th, 2022]
- Battle of the Sexes: Men triumph! - Chessbase News - February 9th, 2022 [February 9th, 2022]
- Battle of the Sexes: Men increase lead - Chessbase News - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Chairman of the board | Boris Starling - The Critic - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Using AI in Recruiting - Onrec - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Arena Download - Complete GUI for chess engines that will ... - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- A hundred years of exactitude: Jos Ral Capablanca - TheArticle - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- Intel Core i5-12400 vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Face-Off: The Gaming Value Showdown - Tom's Hardware - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- software - Why dont chess engines use Node.js? - Chess ... - December 29th, 2021 [December 29th, 2021]
- Stockfish - Chess Engines - Chess.com - December 27th, 2021 [December 27th, 2021]
- Top 10 Strongest Chess Engines In 2021 - Hercules Chess - December 23rd, 2021 [December 23rd, 2021]
- The 10 Greatest Blitz Chess Games Of All Time - Chess.com - December 23rd, 2021 [December 23rd, 2021]
- Ninja, the worlds top streamer, on how video games can make you smarter about money and investing - MarketWatch - December 17th, 2021 [December 17th, 2021]
- 8 Reasons To Play In The 2022 Daily Chess Championship - Chess.com - December 15th, 2021 [December 15th, 2021]
- World Chess Championship - the Arena - Chessbase News - December 7th, 2021 [December 7th, 2021]
- The World Chess Championship Opens With An Endless Knight-Rook Dance - FiveThirtyEight - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- Play chess: online and computer chess on real boards in the test - Market Research Telecast - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- The 5 Best Computer Chess Engines - Chess.com - November 15th, 2021 [November 15th, 2021]
- 10 Strongest Free Chess Engines [all above 3000 ELO] at ... - November 15th, 2021 [November 15th, 2021]
- Chessprogramming wiki - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Stockfish can crush you at chess even more efficiently in the 14.1 update - Neowin - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Grand Swiss: Shirov and Najer join Firouzja in the lead - Chessbase News - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Deadmau5's 'Oberhasli' is what it looks like when the metaverse comes for music fans - Mashable South East Asia - October 26th, 2021 [October 26th, 2021]
- Deadmau5's 'Oberhasli' is what it looks like when the metaverse comes for music fans - Mashable - October 24th, 2021 [October 24th, 2021]
- Deep Blue - Chess.com - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- AlphaZero Crushes Stockfish In New 1,000-Game Match - Chess.com - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- Free UCI-Compatible Chess Programs for the Stockfish Engine - HobbyLark - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- CORRECTING and REPLACING RazerCon Is Back for Round II: Tune in for a Keynote By CEO Min-Liang Tan Filled With Exclusive New Announcements and Guest... - September 29th, 2021 [September 29th, 2021]
- Going back in time in La vie sans applis - The Concordian - September 8th, 2021 [September 8th, 2021]
- The Road to 2030 in the Age of Intelligence - Huawei - September 8th, 2021 [September 8th, 2021]
- India's kings and queens of chess - Jordan Times - August 26th, 2021 [August 26th, 2021]