14-year-old Leon Mendonca from Goa becomes India’s 67th Grandmaster

Leon Mendonca, 14, of Goa, became India’s 67th chess grandmaster by winning the third and final standard at a tournament in Italy. Mendonca, who achieved the feat at 14 years, 9 months and 17 days, is the second managing director of the coastal state.

The player achieved his first GM standard at the Rigo Chess GM Round Robin in October, while the second took place at the Saturday 1st event in Budapest in November and the last at the Vergani Cup in Italy.

In the Vergani Cup in Bassano del Grappa, he finished second with 6.5 points behind the Ukrainian Vitaliy Bernadskiy (7 pts).

Mendonca and his father Lyndon were stranded in Europe in March following the lockdown and travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus.

They saw it as an opportunity and competed in several tournaments with the goal of securing the GM title. During the nine months of March through December, Mendonca played in 16 tournaments and, with an ELO rating of 2,452 points, improved to 2,544.

Mendonca said he was thrilled to become CEO and thanked those who have supported him through thick and thin.

“Yeah… I’m thrilled to be the CEO. It came after a lot of hard work. I cannot thank several people including my parents, coach Vishu Prasanna and the sponsors for the success, ”he said.

The Goa youngster had attended a camp organized by Microsense in Chennai at the end of 2019 when former world champions Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand trained a number of Indian players.

After reaching the second GM standard, his father said: “It has been a challenge to stay in Europe and for him to participate in events. We have stayed in Airbnb rooms.

“In addition, it was difficult to plan the tournaments due to the uncertainty. But it has been gratifying though. Chennai player G Akash became the country’s 66th Grandmaster in July.