Mumbai, India (CU)_ Leon Mendonca, 14-year-old chess player from Goa won the third and final criteria in a tournament in Italy and became the 67th Chess Grandmaster of India. Mendonca is the second Grandmaster to have won this tournament at the age of 14. The young chess player won his first GM honorarium in October at the Rigo Chase GM round robin, and won his second in November at the 1 Saturday event in Budapest, and the third and final one at the Vergani Cup in Italy. In the Vergani Cup in Basano del Grappa, he completed second with 6.5 points from Ukraine’s Vitaly Bernadsky (7th place).
In March, Mendonca and his father Lyndon were stuck in Europe as a result of pandemic-enforced lockdowns and travel restrictions. He utilized this opportunity and took part in a number of competitions aiming at winning the GM title. In a duration of nine months from March to December, Mendonca participated in 16 tournaments and progressed to 2544 from an ELO rating of 2452 points.
When asked about his achievement, Mendonca expressed happiness over his GM title and thanked everyone who supported him through his ups and downs. He said, “I am happy to be a GM. It has come after hard work. I cannot thank my parents, coach Vishnu Prasanna and many people including sponsors for the success.”
Mendonca was also trained at a camp arranged by Microsense in Chennai at the end of 2019, where many Indian players were trained by former world champions Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand. Vishnu Prasanna, Mendonca’s coach said, “They had crossed the ratings mark and had passed several times. So the title was not surprising but still under some pressure.” It was said that that Mendonca will also play another tournament in Italy prior to his return to India.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand took to twitter to congratulate Mendonca. He tweeted, “Congratulations to Leon for becoming the 67th Grandmaster. An inspiration for aspiring Grandmasters. I am proud of my commitment and focus. How your family and myself were left behind in Europe during the epidemic chasing the GM title! Enjoy the achievement.”
