Podcast Link : Chess Grandmaster Podcast

Life is like a game of chess, packed with strategic moves that can take you on any path you wish to tread !

Priyadharshan Kannappan, our next Pathbreaker, Entrepreneur and India’s 44th Grandmaster, runs his own Chess Coaching organization Chess Gaja, One of the best online chess academies in India !

Priyadharshan talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about his journey that began with being enamoured by chess, achieving professional accreditations, and his current role as an entrepreneur.

For students, remember that you are here for the long haul. Don’t strive for overnight success. Be patient, humble, and play your moves with confidence!

Priyadharshan, we would like to know more about your background for the benefit of our young readers?

I grew up in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. My journey into the world of chess began quite unexpectedly when I was just six and a half years old. Initially, I was passionate about cricket and attended coaching sessions regularly. However, everything changed when my elder brother started playing chess at home. The chess set always intrigued me, and I often found myself coming home early from school to make random moves with the pieces, fascinated by the game.

My parents noticed my growing interest and decided it would be great if both their children played chess. They started taking me to district tournaments, along with my brother. This marked the beginning of my deep dive into the world of chess.

My father, A.S. Kannappan, is an insurance and investments consultant, while my mother, P.L. Meenakshi, was a dedicated housewife during my childhood. My early successes in district and state-level chess tournaments fueled my family’s motivation and support. As we invested more time and resources into my chess career, it became a significant part of our family’s life.

What did you do for graduation/post graduation?

For my undergraduate studies, I earned a B.S (2012-2016) in Marketing from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. Following that, I pursued a Master of Arts in Management and Leadership (2016-2018), along with a certificate in Business Analytics, from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

I chose to study in the US because St. Louis is the Chess Capital of the USA. I believed I could balance my education and passion for chess by joining a college chess team in the best chess city in the US, interacting with many legends of the game while earning a solid educational degree.

I was fortunate to receive about 75% of my education through sports scholarships for both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Tell us, what were some of the influences that led you on the fascinating journey in Chess?

One of the big turning points was in October 2010, during the National Junior Chess Championship in Puri, Orissa. I was leading the tournament until near the end but ended up not winning due to losing the penultimate round. This experience completely broke my interest in chess, and I told my parents that I was done with chess for some time. I also informed them that I wanted to balance my chess and academics and wanted to give moving to the US a shot.

Once I decided to pursue my undergraduate degree in the US, I took a gap year after completing 12th grade. This was a bold decision, especially coming from a Tier-2 city like Madurai, where such concepts are not common. I took the gap year because I decided to apply to US universities late and needed time to prepare for the SAT and TOEFL exams to achieve the best scores.

For my master’s degree, I chose Webster University, also located in the St. Louis area. A significant factor in this decision was the chess program at Webster University, headed by former Women’s World Chess Champion and chess legend Susan Polgar. Being part of the Webster University Chess Team, a legendary team with multiple Pan-American Collegiate Chess Championship titles, and training under a superstar coach was a dream come true for me.

Moving to the US for six years gave me a whole new perspective on life. I got to interact with people from all walks of life and develop my personality and the confidence to handle things independently.

From an early age, I was exposed to business and finance through my father, who is an insurance and investment consultant. This early exposure shaped my interest in pursuing a business-related degree. Marketing seemed like a natural fit for my undergraduate studies.

For my master’s, I chose a specialization in Management and Leadership. It closely resembles an MBA but includes a few different classes, making it an appealing choice for me.

In the business world, people like Zoho founder Mr. Sridhar Vembu have truly inspired me. His vision of building global organizations from Tier-2 cities by tapping into talent from Tier-2 and Tier-3 areas resonated deeply with me.

Regarding chess, the person who inspired me when I took up the sport was obviously Mr. Viswanathan Anand, a legend of the game.

I must also mention my parents, A.S. Kannappan and P.L. Meenakshi, who were pillars of support when I started playing chess as a young kid. They supported my career choices, including taking a gap year and starting my own organization.

My brother, K. Prasanna, played an important role in sparking our family’s interest in chess and provided me with guidance in my early years.

Priyadharshan, can you talk about your Chess Career and your path to becoming a Grandmaster?

My parents enrolled me with a local chess coach when I started playing chess. The multiple successes I had at the District, State, and National levels within two years of starting to play chess motivated both me and my parents to pursue the sport seriously. They arranged for me to train under higher-level coaches, and my school, Jeevana School in Madurai, was very supportive. They allowed me to take leaves to participate in events and were okay with me just showing up to write exams, as they strongly believed I would do well in studies combined with chess.

I won my first international medal, a silver medal in the Asian U-10 Championship, in 2003. This sustained interest in the sport convinced me that chess was my destiny!

I must also highlight the significant role that Velammal School in Madurai played in my chess career. I completed my 11th and 12th standard there. The school provided cash awards and organized felicitation functions, inviting sports legends like Kapil Dev, VVS Laxman, and Viswanathan Anand. These events were tremendous morale boosters for an aspiring sportsperson like me, performing at the international level.

However, I plateaued in my 11th grade. By then, I was an International Master in chess, one level below the highest possible title of Grandmaster. A bit of frustration crept in, as my chess peers were already becoming Grandmasters, and I was unable to achieve this title. That’s when I looked up to my senior in Madurai, Grandmaster Magesh Chandran, who had earlier gone to the US on a chess scholarship to get a college degree. I found that career track unique compared to other Indian chess players who only focused on building their chess skills.

The balancing act of pursuing my Grandmaster title, my undergraduate college degree, and part-time jobs in college, such as working in the dishwashing department of the cafeteria and being a Resident Advisor in my college dormitory, kept me fully occupied. I had to be razor-focused on my priorities, which kept me chasing excellence and not getting distracted by other things in life.

The key element in achieving my Grandmaster title was the chess ecosystem in St. Louis, where I constantly interacted with legendary players. These interactions shaped my thought process and helped me understand what it takes to become a Grandmaster.

One random but significant opportunity came when I noticed on Facebook that the then US Chess Champion, Sam Shankland, was looking to build a team of chess assistants. This collaboration allowed me to assist in his chess preparation and receive valuable guidance. It was a win-win situation, as he benefited from young and upcoming players sharing their chess ideas, and I got a chance to regularly interact and analyze my chess games with a player much stronger than me. Hesitantly, I reached out to Sam, and to my surprise, he was very interested in the collaboration. This valuable partnership lasted from 2015 to 2018.

First, let me explain the process of becoming a Grandmaster. To achieve this title, you need to score three Grandmaster norms, which involves performing at a Grandmaster level in three tournaments, and your FIDE rating must surpass 2500.

I achieved my first and second Grandmaster norms at the Chicago Open 2014 and the Philadelphia International 2014.

Securing the third norm proved to be a challenge and tested my patience. However, I persisted in my training, worked even harder, and eventually earned my third Grandmaster norm and surpassed the 2500 rating requirement at the Philadelphia International 2016.

I became the 44th Grandmaster from India. I reached a peak rating of 2554 in August 2018, ranking in the top 25 in India and the top 425 in the world.

When I was an active chess player, I was coached by many legendary chess players, including International Master Raja Ravi Sekhar, Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh, Grandmaster Aleksander Goloschapov from Ukraine, Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan from the USA, Grandmaster Elizbar Ubilava from Spain (former trainer of Viswanathan Anand), and Grandmaster and former Women’s World Champion, Susan Polgar.

In terms of business mentoring, a few names I would like to mention are Dr. Joe Roberts from Webster University, who is the Director of Entrepreneurship. He has guided me at many crucial junctures related to the Entrepreneurship program at Webster University. I would also like to mention Mr. Sethuraman Sathappan, the COO of Emirates NBD India, who has given me valuable advice on structuring my business.

There have been countless people I have crossed paths with in my life, who have inspired and motivated me to improve both personally and professionally!

When I was about to complete my Master’s degree, my coach and mentor, Susan Polgar, advised the Webster University Chess Team: “All of you in this room are very strong chess players who also have educational degrees. Try to best use both skill sets and do something amazing. Consider a full-time chess-playing career only if you can make it to your country’s Olympic team. Otherwise, combine your chess skills and education to achieve more rewarding and enriching things in life.”

That statement really stuck with me, as I was already ranked in the top 25 in India and the top 425 in the world in chess rankings, and I had a Master’s degree, which was a unique skill set combination.

At that time, an Indian startup in Gurgaon offered me a position as a product manager. It was a very interesting opportunity because it intersected my interests in chess and business. So, I decided to give up my Green Card application in the U.S. and move back to India to take up the position.

When I had some doubts about whether it was the right move to go back to India, my mentor Susan reassured me saying, “This could be a ticket to something really big, and if by any chance this doesn’t work out, you are still young, and you can get back up and figure out things!” Her confidence gave me the courage to accept the offer and relocate to India from the U.S.

How did you get your first break?

As a Chess Player

My break came very early in my career. In my first state-level event for the U-7 age category, I ranked in the top 8. Similarly, in my first age category nationals, I ranked in the top 10. I believe this success was due to a combination of my natural talent, the right guidance from my coaches, and the unwavering support of my parents in pursuing my interest.

As the Founder of Chess Gaja

The big turning point came when the organization I had moved back to India for didn’t turn out as I had hoped. After 10 months, I resigned from my product manager job and questioned if my decision to return from the US was wrong. I had to do something after resigning, so I decided to move to Bangalore. I wanted to move to a city where I didn’t really know anyone while still being closer to my parents in Madurai. By then, I had already started taking a few online coaching assignments to sustain myself. 

In 2019, we had numerous initial student successes, which helped us receive regular student referrals. What truly set us apart from other academies was our professional approach, along with our vision and mission to deliver high-quality professional chess coaching.

Then, I decided it was the right time to become a full-time coach, which happened somewhat accidentally.

As I continued to teach classes, I received more student requests than I could handle, so I started hiring junior coaches to take classes. Slowly, the online chess academy became a full-fledged organization. My corporate experience provided me with a lot of learnings, both personally and professionally, regarding my strengths, weaknesses, and ability to manage a team.

COVID-19 was also Ja big turning point. I correctly sensed that people would be sitting at home during the lockdown with a lot of free time. On the day the Indian government announced the first lockdown, I immediately reached out to a friend of mine, Mr. Asim Pereira, who was running a chess event broadcasting app. I told him that during COVID-19, there would be no events to broadcast, so I proposed a series called “21 Gems of Chess,” where I would do a deep analysis of chess content for 21 days—the duration of the first lockdown.

During COVID-19, Chess Gaja also stepped up its activities. We conducted a bunch of online tournaments to cater to the needs of chess players. At that point, Chess Gaja operations were handled by just me and my mother, who is the co-founder of Chess Gaja, and my father, A.S. Kannappan, who helped significantly with our operations.

The tournaments increased the visibility of Chess Gaja and what we do among the chess community. I also reached out to the world’s biggest chess playing platform, Chess.com – India division, with an idea to conduct an online chess league featuring the best Indian chess players. That’s how the Indian Chess.com League took place. It was the first pan-Indian chess league, in my opinion. The entire process, from ideation to execution, was completed in 10 days. Since the idea was my brainchild, the Chess.com team asked me to be the League Commissioner. In just 10 days, we executed the whole project, managing to get 30+ Indian Grandmasters to play and securing sponsorship of close to 1.5 lakhs to run the event in just one week.

What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?

To run any online coaching business, you need qualified and skilled tutors to teach the sessions. Initially it was tough for us to attract the coaches as we were not so visible in the market, and we solved that problem by building a strong organic social media presence across all platforms, and many times I personally reached out to coaches to see if they would be interested in taking classes at Chess Gaja.

Now that Chess Gaja is fairly established, we get about 40-50 coach applicants per month, and now have upgraded our vetting process to find the best coaches for our students.

We had lots of issues in scheduling of sessions, notifying the students about the sessions and such, and being an edtech company, we kept searching for tech solutions to solve this problem and we found a good Learning Management System (LMS) tool that has helped us to streamline our classes and make the learning more efficient, and reduce class cancellations.

When I was a chess player the biggest challenge I faced was I became an International Master in 2009 and then I struggled for 7 years to become a GrandMaster. I had mentioned above about this challenge, and I managed to overcome this challenge by being disciplined in my training regime even when the results weren’t coming and being persistent in my efforts. As I was clear about what I wanted, I kept pushing myself even though it seemed like I was getting nowhere near my goal. The consistent and disciplined efforts without losing track of what I wanted and with a strong support system from my family to keep me motivated was what helped me to become a GrandMaster!

Where do you work now? Can you tell us what you do currently??

I am currently the CEO and Founder of an online chess academy Chess Gaja Pvt Ltd, which is registered in Madurai.

The key influencers for me to start my own academy were the market potential I observed while working as a Product Manager at an edtech startup in Gurgaon, right after completing my Master’s degree.

As mentioned earlier, I decided to move back to India after my Master’s degree to pursue a Product Manager role at a startup in Gurgaon. The environment was very fast-paced, with young people buzzing with ideas. The hustle culture typically associated with startups was prevalent. I was a Product Manager, ranked around #7 or #8 in the organizational hierarchy of about 70 people. I had a team working under me, and all the knowledge I had when I took up the position was theoretical, as I hadn’t even done an internship before that. I was directly made a Product Manager due to my deep technical knowledge of chess and theoretical knowledge of business. This intersection gave me a niche area of expertise that no other Indian chess player possessed, leading to my role as a Product Manager.

This was an edtech organization that began with courses focused on chess and had plans to expand into other sports like cricket. The initial course offered was a cinematic recording of structured chess lessons with a Grandmaster. As a Product Manager, I played a key role in expanding our offerings to include live group classes with Grandmasters, one-on-one classes with coaches from around the world, and several other chess learning products.

The original concept was to make Grandmaster chess classes accessible to the mass market. There was a high demand for Grandmaster sessions, but the marketing and selling process was broken. This organization aimed to fix that broken process, organize the coaching market, and bring professionalism to the lessons. The idea was for Grandmasters to deliver their sessions in an online group class setting, making the sessions more affordable and accessible.

Living in Gurgaon, where I knew only the basics of Hindi, made me tougher as a person. It was also a bit of a reverse culture shock moving back from the US to India, and I took my time to adapt to the Indian system of life. The role was very challenging and fun, involving the creation of new chess learning products and identifying the right coaches to teach those programs. The constant challenge kept me out of my comfort zone, which I think is crucial to learning. I learned a lot about the business aspects of chess, which is now helping me run Chess Gaja Pvt Ltd.

About nine months into the job, I realized that the role in Gurgaon was not a good fit for me due to the company’s funding issues. I decided to quit and started teaching chess online. Using my strong network of people in the US, I got some initial students who then referred others, and that’s how the journey of Chess Gaja started!

My roles in Chess Gaja have always been evolving. Initially, I spent a lot of time coaching students. As Chess Gaja grew during COVID, due to the increased demand for online chess classes, I reduced my coaching hours to focus more on management, hiring people, and assigning tasks.

As of May 2024, my role in Chess Gaja has shifted more towards management, constantly reducing the number of coaching hours I directly teach. Focusing on the management aspect is crucial for the organization’s continued growth and scaling.

What problems do you solve?

Chess Gaja addresses the problem of accessibility to high-quality chess lessons, providing these lessons from the comfort of your home. Chess Gaja is a high-performance online chess training academy offering classes for players of all levels and ages.

We have over 25 coaches and 100+ active students in 12+ countries. Fifteen of our students are ranked in the US Top 100 in their respective age categories. Chess Gaja offers premium chess training, instilling a love for chess in our students’ minds. Our mission is to create an ecosystem where learning chess is fun and the idea is to use chess as a tool to enhance human thinking abilities. We aim to provide proper guidance and a fantastic learning experience to help students achieve their goals.

Additionally, Chess Gaja has a corporate chess vertical, offering employee engagement activities based on chess to boost engagement. Our services have been used by companies like Tech Mahindra and other cultural organizations worldwide.

We are also venturing into player management services for elite chess players to help them build a brand and focus on playing while we handle brand building, player management, consulting, sponsorship management, and financial management. These tasks are time and energy-consuming, which a professional chess player may not have the time to manage.

What skills are needed for the job? How did you acquire these skills?

To be the Founder-CEO of a startup, you need to be a generalist, a jack of all trades. You should be ready to wear many hats, such as accountant, salesperson, marketer, and HR. Some of these skills I acquired theoretically through my college degrees, and I further polished the practical aspects during my Product Manager days. Much of what I learned came from observation and on-the-job experience.

What’s a typical day like?

A typical day involves coordinating with my staff, providing guidance on approaching daily tasks, and prioritizing them. Once you build a strong team, the role of a founder shifts to driving the organization’s growth by envisioning new projects and networking with individuals and organizations to explore potential synergies for growth.

I don’t have fixed timings, as being an entrepreneur is a 24/7/365 role, and you never know when your expertise will be required or when an emergency will arise. Since Chess Gaja operates in 12 countries from Australia to the USA, there is always some class or activity taking place at the academy, so emergencies can occur at any time.

What do you love about this job?

The fact that I have managed to pursue my passion as a profession is a great feeling. I also love this job because the impact we make is easily assessed by the number of successful students and the happy messages we receive from parents when their kids win prizes and trophies in tournaments. Even though this job is more demanding and intensive than a regular job, the ability to do what I love and create an impact worldwide is truly satisfying. Additionally, Chess Gaja directly creates job opportunities for about 30 people, most of whom come from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities like Madurai, Theni, and Salem.

How does your work benefit society?

In the modern age, when kids’ attention spans are constantly reducing, the fact that we are teaching chess and can see them becoming more focused means we are making an impact on future generations. Our vision is to impact the lives of millions of children by using chess as an analytical tool to create sharper minds for a better world.

We are also conscious in our hiring practices, giving preference to candidates from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Inspired by Mr. Sridhar Vembu of Zoho, we have created direct jobs for 30 people. Our team and teachers come from all over India, from cities like Theni, Salem, Rourkela, Dehradun, and Pudukottai.

Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!

One of the most recent memorable experiences for me involves a student named Priyansh. He came to us when he was 10 years old and was a raw talent. Both I and my academy coaches have been constantly training him for the past three years, and now he is blossoming into a very fine player. He is currently ranked in the top 15 in the U-12 age category in the US rankings. Last month, he managed to beat a Grandmaster and draw against another Grandmaster!

When our students start to show such strong performances, it reaffirms our training beliefs and methods, showing that we are doing something right. This keeps the Chess Gaja team motivated to offer our services to more students.

I also wanted to mention how I got the opportunity to be the coach and captain of the Brazil Chess Team in the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai. My college senior at Webster University, Grandmaster Andre Diamant from Brazil, was looking for a coach and captain for their team and preferred an Indian coach since the event was in Chennai. He initially reached out to another Indian Grandmaster, who is also my college senior, and he recommended me. That’s how I landed the prestigious job of coaching the Brazil Open Team in the 2022 Chess Olympiad.

My training efforts were successful, as the team started out ranked #28 and finished 21st in the final rankings, managing to beat much stronger countries like England and scoring a draw against Ukraine.

Coaching a national team was a new experience for me, as I had previously only coached the Indian Sub-Junior team in the 2019 Chess Olympiad. Coaching the Brazil team gave me more visibility and increased my stature as a top coach in the chess community.

Your advice to students based on your experience?

Be curious about everything that interests you in life. Be eager to upskill your knowledge and experiences. Don’t hesitate to ask for help—people are generally willing to assist, but you need to reach out!

When you achieve a high level of success in one area, it opens up opportunities in multiple domains, both related and unrelated. You will interact with people who have similar levels of success in other fields, creating a realm of possibilities for you.

Remember, life is a long game. Don’t strive for overnight success. Be patient, humble, and always remember your roots!

Future Plans?

I am working to scale Chess Gaja into a much bigger organization with the vision of having students in every country across the world. We also aim to create many more employment opportunities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

On a personal front, I am striving to become a better person by learning new things like yoga and being more mindful of my actions. I also aim to make a bigger impact on society through my actions.