Some eighteen years ago
A kid was born in Chennai
Seven years rolled past
Time to learn games
Papa Rajni opted for Chess
The kid became a chess bee
And by his meteoric rise
Became a whizkid,
Breezily following the
Legacy of the legendary Vishy
Winning tournaments at will
Always going for the ****
Became IM and later, GM
This gem!
The chess lion set his sight
On bigger ****
Played big tournaments , slayed opponents
The lion roared, his rating soared
Through FIDE circuit
The lion jumped into the candidates’ arena
Played uncompromising chess,
Gukesh-the Gladiator!
And won the right to
Challenge Ding, the Chinese lion!
The lions arrived to the lion-land of Singapura
To match their wits in fourteen board games
They ducked, punched, waited, pounced
All over the chess board,
Like heavyweight champs,
Trading blows and drawing more,
The match neared its ******
In the eleventh game,
Caissa smiled at Gukesh
With this win,
he was soaring towards summit
Only to be pulled back by
Some daring play by Ding,
With a win, Ding was on song,
His regaining the grit
In his smile was writ.
With the thirteenth game
Ending in a draw
Increased the tension of chessbuffs
Of the universe,
Especially the Gukesh-guys
Who were rooted for the
Indian victory
Speculations rose over the fate
Of the fourteenth
Guesses and predictions made
On the possible tiebreak games
With advantage for Ding.
No said, Gukesh
Played the endgame,
Ended the game
Dethroned Ding
And became the King!!
Jan 13, 2025
Jan 13, 2025 at 12:19 PM UTC
It was a long, long quest
by the nation which invented chess,
to get a gold at Olympiad.
True, silver and bronze,
gifted Individuals like Rafiq and Viji
got in the past,
but never the team gold
till the Budapest Olympiad.
Well, the Olympiad held at Hungary,
the land of Magyars and the mighty Polgars,
Lo, arrived the young Indian masters, men and women
Carrying the legacy of the Tiger of Madras
and the hopes of millions of Indians and fans elsewhere,
Fully charged, determined for deeds greater,
The vyuha of the men’s team crafted carefully
by Srinath, the coach.
Fiery Gukesh was fielded in the top board
Arjun played aggressive chess and
Pragg played solid and attacked the foe,
as the battle-board demanded
The team’s fortunes, strengthened further
By the heroics of Vidit and Hari
The champion chess colts’ majestic march
boasted wins against rivals, arch
Hungary, America, Slovenia
Chess Continents crumbled at the
Concentrated attacks of the young Indian warriors
Who tamed all and emerged victorious
The young Indian women’s team of Kunte,
Matched the talent and deeds of the Indian men
Harika Dronavalli at top board, drawing and winning,
Assuring a solid support, with hopes dawning
Divya Deshmukh, the darling of the Olympiad
And the fearless tigress of the team,
Attacked all-out in her games,
Going for the **** and scoring points at will.
Vantika and Vaishali defended well,
At times, the inferior positions in their tables,
Only to turn the tables, at the right time,
With their counter attacks and crafty play.
Tania Sachdev rendered solid support
By her steady play and steely nerves.
Came final round, the young Indian women
Taught the Azerbaijanis, a lesson or two over the board
Picked up the lion’s share of points in their hoard
And in the process, won the Olympiad gold!
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Jan 13, 2025
Jan 13, 2025 at 12:02 PM UTC