Many eyebrows were raised when the parents of chess prodigy Sandipan Chanda, who obtained his third and final Grandmaster's norm in Spain, dropped the youngster from high school to allow him emulate his idol Viswanathan Anand.
But the supreme confidence of Subhas Chanda and Mridula in their son paid off on Monday, when the 19-year-old became the third Grandmaster from West Bengal -- India's ninth - after Dibyendu Barua and Surya Sekhar Ganguly.
Chanda obtained his third and final GM norm by culling nine points in the 10-round Benasque Open in Spain.
In fact, he tied for the first place with seven others, but Russian Grandmaster Oleg Korneev was declared champion, and Israel's Alik Gershon second on tie-break.
"He (Sandipan) called me over phone to convey the message. Immediately, I got in touch with Goodricke National Chess Academy which confirmed the news," the senior Chanda said.
Since then, the phone has not stopped ringing at the Chandas' residence, with ecstatic relatives and friends calling in to convey their congratulations, and media houses rushing for newsbytes from the chess prodigy's near ones.
"Our entire schedule has gone haywire. I haven't been able to cook today because of the phone calls and unending stream of visitors," mother Mridula said.
The parents saw something special in Sandipan for the game of 64 squares when he was just seven and decided to allow him to concentrate fully on the game when he was studying in Class IX.
"The decision to drop him from high school and getting him admitted to an open school was risky. But then, he was so committed to chess, we found it necessary to encourage him," Mridula said.
"So far, he hasn't even had the time to sit for the Higher Secondary exam. But I keep telling him not to worry about that and instead concentrate on the game," she said.
Sandipan's early trainers were his cousin and father. But seeing the youngster pick up the game fast, Subhas sent him to the Alekhine Chess School and then to the Goodricke National Chess Academy, which helped him hone his skills.
Yet to attract a sponsor, Sandipan had to venture out on his own after carefully choosing some tournaments on websites.
He used to depend on prize-money to play different tournaments and rarely sought his parents' help.
His skills were sharpened in sessions with Paritosh Bhattacharjee, Bipin Shenoy and Rajendra Singh, culminating in his victory at the 1998 Rapid Chess Championship in Spain. The following year he visited China. He participated in several age-group tournaments and won the national Under-10 title in 1993.
The first time Sandipan landed in Germany was in 1993, when he played age-group championships. He now plays in the premier league in the European nation.
Sandipan, who now has 2469 Elo points, bagged his first GM norm in the Goodricke Open in 2000, and followed up with a second norm in the same tournament a year later.
Expressing happiness at Chanda's success, Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua said: "I feel so relieved now. We were all waiting for this to happen for the last two years."
Barua, who became the country's second GM after Viswanathan Anand, said an innovative and imaginative approach, coupled with a good tactical game and aggressive style have contributed to Chanda's success.
"He never plays for a draw. There is not even a dull moment in his game. He has even at times suffered for his all-out approach. But I'm sure with maturity he'll overcome this."
