Indian Chess master Dhyani Dave Shares Her Awe-Inspiring Success Story

Namita Nayyar (WF Team)

7 years ago

Dhyani Dave

Whenever Narendra Modi meets this girl, he says, “Tum wohi ladki ho na, jo dimaag kuch zyaada hi chalati ho!”

Sponsors are not doing enough for the game, feels chess master Dhyani Dave

Chess master Dhyani Dave from Ahmedabad is a gritty girl. Despite facing odds with sponsorship in her profession, she has reached a position where she has been awarded and felicitated by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee. And she has won chess games with Aamir Khan at the age of six. WomenFitness.net tracks down her journey.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: At such a young age, you hold the Woman International Master title in chess and are a Limca Book of Records holder for playing chess simultaneously with 150 contestants. In fact, you are the only International Woman Master from Gujarat. Tell us more about your spectacular journey and how it all began?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Well, it’s actually funny how I started playing chess. As a six-year-old kid, I was much like all other kids but just a little hyper-active. I remember, my sister used to play chess then, and she was playing the Under 18 National Girls Championship in Bikaner. She was nearing her 10th grade, so there was a streak of three tournaments which she was going to play as her last. During her crucial third game of the tournament, I used to go and irritate her by asking questions like, “Didi, aapki kya position hai? Aap jeet rahe ho ya haar rahe ho?” She got annoyed of it and complained about this to my mother. So my mother decided to also enroll me for the tournament and that’s how, I being a six-year-old kid, played the first tournament of my life — the Under 18 National Championship. There was no looking back after that. My sister played three tournaments, so did I. And yes, I was awarded the youngest player’s prize in all the three tournaments. I am pretty aggressive by nature and that helped me a lot in chess.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: Introduce us to a day in the life of a chess player, preparing for an international championship.

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Uff, it’s crazy. Chess as you know, is a mind game and requires a lot of effort. Usually before my tournaments, I work about eight to nine hours a day on chess and sometimes even more. 9am to 1pm, and then 4pm to 8pm are my usual practicing hours. Sometimes, I have online coaching too, as my coach Michael Krasenkow is from Poland and it is not always possible for me to visit him. Plus, I have some friends with whom I play practice games. It is difficult to find people who want to play serious long games with you, because they may last upto four hours. Ha ha. Many tournament games of mine have lasted for more than five hours.

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Ms. Namita Nayyar: You have also been awarded and felicitated by none other than our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this year, even by President Pranab Mukherjee. Would you like to share with us your experience receiving such high accolades and appreciation?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: I received more than five awards from Narendra Modi when he was the CM of Gujarat. He is the most dynamic personality I have ever come across. The first time I got an award from him, was when I was nine years old. Oh my God… since then, whenever he meets me, he has this ready caption for me: “Tum wohi ladki ho na, jo dimaag kuch zyaada hi chalati ho!” Ha Ha. Even the Limca Book record that I made, is because he chose me to compete. I received the ‘100 Women Achievers’ award this year and it was given to me by President Pranab Mukherjee. I shortened my Spain tournament trip to receive this award. Cancelled playing a tournament at the last moment. It was a proud moment when I shared the same table with president for lunch along with the other achievers.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: You are the Limca Book of Records holder for playing chess simultaneously with 150 contestants. How did you feel after giving such a breakthrough performance and creating history?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Narendra Modiji organized the entire event for me because he had faith in me that I will be able to do it. It was actually very tiring to play against 150 players simultaneously. I walked about 20 kms in total during that day and the games got over after 8 long hours. This event was also addressed by LK Advani and Vishvanathan Anand. Modiji even asked me for feedback when he first started Khel Mahakumbh, which shows how down to earth he is.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: So how did it all fall into place?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: One fine day I got a call from the CM’s office saying that Modiji wanted to speak to me. He said he was planning to organize an event like this and asked me whether I will be able to participate. His voice had a surety and confidence, as if he knew I would be able to make a record. When the day arrived, I was so nervous as this was going to be tough. But when I finally did it, I was extremely happy to be receiving the award from the hands of Vishwanathan Anand, who had specially come down to Ahmedabad for it. Advaniji has also written about this event in his book. It has been the biggest one in my life until now. You know that feeling. Jab life mein kuch bada hota hai, tab magical si feeling aati hai. Ditto vesi hi feeling thi.

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Ms. Namita Nayyar: At the age of six, you got a chance to beat megastar Aamir Khan to a game of chess. Would you like to share with us your memories of that incredible incident?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: I was nine years old then and already an Asian silver medalist. My dad was posted in Kutch then and the shoot of Lagaan was going on. The art director being a friend of my dad, invited us over. My dad knew that Aamir loves chess, so he carried a chess board along. I remember when we reached there, Aamir was having his lunch and my dad requested him for a game with me afterwards. Aamir said, “Nahi nahi, abhi khel lete hai,” expecting me to be just another kid. But to his surprise, I defeated him in like 20 moves. He was surprised and asked me for a few more games in between his shots. He would make a move, go give his shot and come back and play again. We spent six hours playing together. We played three games and I won them all. Ha ha. Last year, we played again and I won again! But he is a very good player and an amazing person.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: Training for professional sports requires a lot of focus and determination. How are you able to strike a balance between your personal and professional life?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: I have been asked this question a lot many times. It actually comes very naturally to me. I am an expert at multi-tasking. After my chess practice, I am like normal people who meet friends, go out with them and have fun. I meet my friends everyday no matter what happens. It’s like a ritual. I am good at time management and hence the balance. I know what to do, when to do and how to do.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: Who has been your greatest influence and motivator in your success?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Undoubtedly, my mother. She is my only source of motivation. Like every sportsman, I too had tough times. But she always made me go the extra mile. Till date, I haven’t played any tournament without her. She accompanies me wherever I go and sits outside the tournament hall until my game gets over. I’ve never had any coaching or sponsors for my tournaments, even though I am the only woman player that Gujarat ever had. But my mom has never let this thing become a hurdle.

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Ms. Namita Nayyar: We often see you comment on Bigg Boss contestants. You seem to have a great affinity for the reality show?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Ha ha. Yes, I do. I watch Bigg Boss 10 every night and dissect it just like a game of chess. And when the contestants make moves that are dumb, I kind of get hassled and plan and plot for them in my mind. See, there is a method to the madness in the BB House but they just don’t seem to get it. Salman Khan inspires and coaxes them so much every weekend, and they still don’t get it. I put myself in their places and plan moves and succeed in the madness. But then, at the end of the day, they goof and goof. I feel sorry for them and post and predict stuff on social media and laugh about how uninteresting they make themselves on a show that’s supposed to be all about playing the game of drama and eyeballs.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: Share with us your future goals and aspirations.

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Well, I want to become a woman grandmaster and even working towards it. But as I do not have any sponsors, it becomes difficult to play many tournaments the way some other players play. But I am working every day to come one step closer to the goal. Once I become a woman grandmaster, I want to open a chess academy of my own, because sadly, Gujarat doesn’t have good coaches.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: What is your advice to the inspiring and budding chess players who are your fans. They shall like to know from you, what they should do to climb their ladder of success in this field.

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Patience and hard work are the keys to my success. I never became a champion overnight. It took me an enormous amount of effort. As a six-year-old kid, I wanted to go out and play hide-and-seek with my friends, but I chose chess over it. I had my priorities right since then. If you want to succeed in anything then I believe, you must have the patience to wait for success. Failures would happen, but don’t succumb to them. Don’t give up. Hang on. Actually, many people appreciate me for this quality. I am very optimistic about things in life. I always say, “Yaar chal na, ek aur baar try karte hai, shayad ho jaay.”

Ms. Namita Nayyar: Would you like to give a message to the visitors of WomenFitness.net?

Ms. Dhyani Dave: Oh, yes! It’s a great initiative where women are highlighted. We see a lot many fitness websites, but one specially dedicated to women as a package, is a fantastic effort.

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Women Fitness Team thanks Dhyani Dave for giving her valuable time for this interview, enlightening us and our viewers and quenching the thirst of her fans to know more about her.

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