How did 14-year-old Deekshitha Modipalli reached 2400+ from 1985 in just two months
Every once in a while, a young player comes along whose rise is hard to ignore. The most recent one is 14-year-old Deekshitha Modipalli, who, in just two months, gained nearly 450 Elo points, crossed the 2400 mark, and picked up an IM norm along the way. This talented girl has been travelling independently to chess tournaments since she was just 10 years old. Let's take a look at her incredible run!
1985 to 2400+ in two months
14-year-old Deekshitha Modipalli is a talent to watch out for. In the last two months, she has added nearly 450 Elo points to her rating after playing four tournaments in Europe. She went there rated 1985. She has now crossed the 2400 mark in the live rating and also picked up an IM norm along the way.
Deekshitha herself wasn't expecting such a huge jump. "It feels really amazing. I wasn't expecting this much, but I was expecting to gain WIM norms or at least WGM. So it is very surprising for me as well," she said.
Deekshitha began her European trip with a rating of 1985. Her first tournament was the La Plagne Maitre 2026, where she scored 5/9. She defeated three strong players, drew with four and lost just two games. From this tournament, she gained around 140 Elo points.
She then played the 1er Open International d'Echecs des Menuires, where she gained another 30 points.
By early August, after just two tournaments, her rating had already climbed from 1985 to 2157.
Her next tournament was the Ponte Vedra Open. She faced very strong opponents and held her ground throughout, losing just one game and scoring 5.5/9. She gained around 180 Elo points in the tournament. This tournament also brought her an IM norm.
After this, she played the Leca Chess Open. She gained 128 Elo points in this tournament. Deekshitha scored 4.5/9, with four wins, four losses and one draw. Despite the mixed results, the tournament added significantly to her rating.
The results from these two tournaments will be reflected in next month's rating list.
Deekshitha started playing chess when she was nine and a half. When she travelled with her family to their hometown, Hampapuram, for holidays, COVID struck and they ended up staying there for two years. Deekshitha's father introduced chess to her and her brother. As she had a lot of free time during that period, she spent many hours practicing chess. She also learnt swimming, but chess was something that connected with her the most. She played a lot of chess online and after returning to Hyderabad, she joined a local chess academy. Later on, as she was improving her game, she joined the Velocity Academy by IM Krishna Teja in December 2022. This is how her journey with chess grew further. And today, she has crossed 2400+!
No surprise that her commitment to chess is commendable. She even stopped attending school regularly except for exams. She was practising chess full time. Plus point for her is that her mother is a teacher. So she takes care of Deekshitha's studies at home. Her school, Varadhi International School, is also supportive of this decision.
If you were expecting a long list of chess books that transformed Deekshitha's game, there isn't one! She says she has not really read many chess books. Quite interesting to know! She studies positions given by her coaches and prefers solving tactics online.
Deekshitha would train every day at the academy, even on Sundays, when the academy was open. She would attend classes, work on positions and then continue her chess work at home. She played online games and solved tactics, but also spent a lot of time doing offline work. It's self-explanatory how such discipline helped her reach 2400. Her dedication was so intense that her mother would sometimes tell her to stop playing and simply go outside. Deekshitha admitted that she barely went out and does not even have many friends in her neighbourhood. For physical activity, she started doing yoga, which also helped her improve her stamina for chess.
This is a very different childhood from what most 14-year-olds experience. But Deekshitha seems quite comfortable in her world.
The most unusual and impressive part of Deekshitha's journey is how early she learnt to travel independently!
When she first joined Velocity Academy, her mother would take her to the academy and bring her back. The academy was only about half an hour away, but the journey could take two to three hours depending on traffic. At the same time, Deekshitha's younger brother is also an athlete. Her parents have to manage his schedule as well. So they decided to try something different. They let her travel to the academy alone when she was around 10 years old. "It worked," in her own words.
Soon, she started travelling to weekend tournaments around Hyderabad and eventually to tournaments in other states in India. Initially, travelling alone felt difficult for her, but she gradually got used to it. She happily admits that now it feels strange when her parents accompany her to tournaments.
Her parents' approach was: she would have to learn to manage things independently someday, so why not start early?
One thing my parents realised is I cannot be spoonfed everywhere and anytime. At some point, I do have to go alone, when I am probably 17 or 18. So why not just start now?
- Deekshitha explained.
What an empowering approach! Brave Deekshitha and brave parents!
Deekshitha has a very strong support system around her. Velocity Academy has also played an important role in her development. Apart from Krishna Teja, Varun and Chaithanya from Velocity Academy have worked with her. Chaithanya even travelled with Deekshitha during her European trip. She managed the practical side of the trip. She took care of cooking, cleaning and academy work. "A big thanks to her as well. I could not do this trip without her," Deekshitha said.
Deekshitha's rating jump is impressive, no doubt. But how she got there is also commendable. Being trusted to travel alone and figuring things out on her own at just 10 years old shaped her as much as any coach or academy. We are pretty sure we are going to hear her name a lot!
Deekshitha also analysed her games with Sagar Shah in a detailed interview. Watch it here:
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