The Man Behind India’s 97th Grandmaster: A Conversation with Gopalakrishnan K

by Jyotsna Bhushan - 16/08/2026

Every grandmaster title has two stories. The one played out on the board, and the one lived quietly off it, by the parents who skipped holidays, saved every rupee, and never once asked for credit. When Harshavardhan completed his third GM norm at the Chola Chess tournament, the cameras found him first. But just as important was the man standing a little further back, visibly emotional, finally exhaling after years of tournaments. His father, Gopalakrishnan K who is a chess trainer, former player, and by his own admission, a man who simply cannot stop loving this game. He sat down to talk about what it really takes to raise a grandmaster.

The Quiet Architect: Gopalakrishnan K on Coaching, Sacrifice, and Chess

Chess trainer Gopalakrishnan K reflects on his son Harshavardhan’s journey to becoming India’s 97th Grandmaster, detailing the years of family sacrifice, evolving training methods, and the shared passion that fueled their success.
Gopalakrishnan K learned chess from Russian translated books in the late 1980s, even picking up basic Russian script at a cultural centre in Chennai just to understand whether a position was better for white or black. Decades later, his son is a grandmaster. Some things, it turns out, are worth every sacrifice.

Harshavardhan along with proud parents at the Chola Chess GM Round Robin Tournament.| Photo: Devansh Singh.

Devansh Singh: How are you feeling right now, sir?
Gopalkrishnan K: Elated. The monkey is off his back and ours too. He was struggling for the last three years, missing norms on one technicality or another. I'm very happy that he's finally done it.

Harshavardhan getting his last GM Norm. | Photo: Devansh Singh

Q: You are both a parent and a FIDE trainer. What were the challenges of raising Harshvardhan in chess from such a young age?
A: When kids are young, up to eight or nine years old, the most important thing is to make them fall in love with the game. Only then does maturity come along with the ability to accept losses and keep going. That was always the first thing we focused on.
With Harshvardhan specifically, I had to make a practical decision early on. No child really listens to his own father, however good the advice is. So from a certain point, I stepped back and put him under other coaches, first Mr. Hariharan, then Visweswaran sir's academy, and now he works with Deepan. He's comfortable with them, and that's what matters. He still calls me sometimes and asks my opinion, but he also calls me old school which, honestly, is fair. We came up with informators and DVDs. Now everything is engine evaluations and online courses. When he says a position is plus 0.3, I tell him to prove it on the board. I don't know what plus 0.3 means. Which side are you playing? That's how we were trained.

Q: What do you think about how engines have changed chess, especially for parents watching from the sidelines?
A: Look, engines are a boon; there's no question about that. Today's players know exactly when and how to use them, and I learn from Harshavardhan on those things myself. But the problem is other parents. They download an app, see that their child has a plus four position, and ask How did you lose from plus four? That's not fair. A plus four position can still be enormously complicated. There might be two checks, and you have to find the precise one. An engine does it instantly. A human, even a strong one, can miss it. Criticising a child based on what an app says is just not right.

Q: What advice would you give to parents whose children are learning chess, especially those who don't play themselves?

A: First, make sure the child loves the game. That comes before ratings, before norms, before anything else. Second, teach them to accept victory and defeat with the same attitude. These are the only two things that matter early on.
I tell the kids I train right now: go there and lose. At around 1700-1800 level, I see so many children who, the moment they face a higher-rated opponent, immediately play for a draw. I hate that. I tell them I only know one draw when two kings remain on the board. Until that moment, keep fighting. And if your parent questions you for not drawing, tell them your coach told you to play on. That's how we build the right mindset, and luckily the parents of the children I work with trust me on this.

Another lovely click of the newest Grandmaster of India and his mother.| Photo: Devansh Singh

Q: Tell us about that young Harshvardhan. What was he like as a child around chess?
A: He was eight or nine years old, casually bouncing a ball against the wall, and I'd be working on positions for my students. Suddenly he'd stop and ask something like, "Tomorrow I'm playing the Nimzo-Indian against this boy, should I allow doubled pawns?" At eight years old! I'd say, better not to allow them if you're white. He'd ask, "Qb3 or Qc2?" I'd say, "I prefer Qb2 because of a3 and b4 later. He'd say okay and go back to bouncing his ball.
His mother used to get upset. She felt I should be sitting with him and teaching him properly. I told her: he knows what he needs. He knows what to ask. My job is to answer his doubts, not to spoon-feed him. That's how it evolved.

Q: Chess at the top level is incredibly expensive. How did you manage the finances through all of this?
A: All the credit goes to my wife. I was a banker; I transferred my salary to her account and left everything in her hands. She managed every rupee. And I want to say this honestly: we have been married 24-25 years, and she has not bought a single gram of gold in all that time. That is how she saved the money to fund his chess. She travelled with him to every tournament until he was about 15 or 16 years old, because I needed an NOC from the bank for foreign travel and couldn't always get away.
One international trip costs four to five lakhs easily, and Harshvardhan needs to play four or five events per trip to make it worthwhile. Some families can go for one event, play, and come back. Finance is not a problem for them. For us, of those four or five events, two or three would be good events and the rest he'd have to compromise on. That has been our reality, and that is why this title means so much.

Harshavardhan and his mother after clinching the GM Title. | Photo: Devansh Singh

Q: What do you think of initiatives like Chola Chess bringing these norm tournaments to India?
A: It is a great boon. It is genuinely wonderful what Chola Chess and the Tamil Nadu Chess Association are doing. Players who could never afford to travel to Europe for a closed round robin now have that opportunity right here. This is changing things in a real way.

Q: Now that the GM title is secured, what comes next for Harshvardhan?
A: Honestly, the GM title was a goal for his mother and other relatives more than for either of us. For Harshvardhan and me, the goal has always just been to play, to learn, to keep going. Gukesh became World Champion; does that mean he should retire? Of course not. He keeps playing because he loves the game. Same with Harshvardhan. As long as he loves this game and as long as we can support him, he will play. That is it. There is no grand answer to "what next." You just keep going.

Q: When did you last play competitively yourself?
A: In 2013, when we were organising the World Championship match in Chennai, I was part of the core organising committee. And even then I could not resist. I signed up for a side event and played while simultaneously helping to run the whole thing. That tells you everything about how I feel about chess. Even now, if you let me, I would go and compete. I know I would lose badly. But I love playing. I love the interaction with other players. That passion. I think Harshvardhan has inherited it. And as long as that passion is there, he will continue!

Check out the video interview here!