Hello , I'm Priyadharshan

GrandMaster, FIDE Trainer and India’s highest FIDE rated professional coach.

His Childhood

Born in Madurai on 1st December 1993, he got introduced to the magical world of Chess at the age of 6.5, thanks to his brother Prasanna. Since then, Chess has been an integral part of his life! His interest in Chess kept growing due to his continued success in the state and national level events, where he consistently finished in the top-10 rankings, which motivated his parents to help him pursue his passion!

His Adolescence

This was an amazing period of his life, as he travelled around the world (10 countries) and played a game that he dearly loved! He also won all his age category medals in his adolescence. He picked up the International Master title at 16, winning the Asian U-16 Championship in New Delhi in 2009. The most memorable moment for him in his adolescence was meeting the former President of India, Mr APJ. Abdul Kalam in Rashtrapathi Bhavan in 2005, as he got an invitation to meet him after winning the Asian U-12 championship.

His Adulthood

He moved to the U.S. at 19 to do his B.S. in Marketing degree from Lindenwood University in St.Louis, Missouri. The U.S education gave him a whole new perspective on life, as he got to meet amazing people from all over the world, and some of them are very good friends of his now! As he completed his undergraduate degree, he also became a GrandMaster at the age of 23. Then he went on to complete his M.A in Management and Leadership from Webster University, where he got to train under the legendary Susan Polgar! In 2018 he moved back to India, and now he is on his startup journey to build a world-class chess organization!

Books

He’s a big fan of non-fiction titles, specifically on the following topics: History, Social Sciences, Business, and Biography. He loves reading in Tamil & English. Would you believe it if he finished the whole "Ponniyin Selvan" Tamil book series at the age of 11!

Movies and Sitcoms

Movies under "Slice of Life" or "Comedy" would be his to-go pick on any given day! He used to watch many movies in his younger days, but these days watches only the ones that are highly recommended. He prefers to watch movies in Tamil and Malayalam! He is a big fan of the "Mockumentary" genre in sitcoms, and by now, you must have guessed that he is a big fan of "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation"

Writing

It should be no surprise that he loves writing, as he is the author of "The Modernized Berlin Wall Defense". He also has a bunch of articles for leading chess magazines and websites under his belt. He loves the fact that he gets to share his experiences with a worldwide audience through his writing, which is why he writes a monthly blog for Chess Gaja followers these days. Chess is not the only genre he likes to write about, as he has scribbled a few Tamil Poems over the years too.

Mentored (2016 - Current)
Mentored (2016 - Current)
Mentored (2021- Current)
Mentored (2010- 2015)
2000
Started Playing Chess and managed to finish in the top-10 in State and National Championship
2002
Got his first FIDE rating of 1975
2003
Won his 1st International Medal - Silver medal in the Asian U-10 Championship in Calicut
2004
Won Bronze Medal in Asian U-12 Championship Individual category and a Gold Medal in the Team category in Singapore
2005
Won the Gold Medal in the Asian U-12 Championship in New Delhi. Also got to meet the then President of India, Mr.APJ.Abdul Kalam, in Rashtrapathi Bhavan
2006
Trained with GrandMaster Elizbar Ubilava, former coach of GrandMaster Vishwanathan Anand, for 1 month in Benasque, Spain.
2007
Beat a GrandMaster for the first time! Won the Commonwealth U-14 championship in New Delhi
2008
Member of the team that won the Gold Medal in the World Sub Junior Olympiad in Turkey. Individual Gold medal in Commonwealth U-16 category
2009
Got the International Master title. Won Gold medal in Individual and Team Category in U-16 Asian Championship in New Delhi. Captained the Indian team to a silver medal in the World SubJunior Olympiad in Turkey.
2010
Finished 9th in the World Youth U-18 Championship in Greece.
2012
Moved to the U.S for BS Marketing degree in Lindenwood University. Won 3 medals in the US Chess League (Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Board 2 First Team All-Star Player)
2013
Winner of Mid-America and Thanksgiving Open in St.Louis.
2014
Made 1st GM norm by being a joint champion of the Chicago Open. Made 2nd GM norm in DC International Open.
2015
Drew with World Championship Challenger GM Fabiano Caruana in a classical game in Millionaire Open
2016
Graduated from Lindenwood and joined Webster University for an M.A in Management and Leadership with a certificate in Business Analytics. Became a GrandMaster by completing all the requirements in Philadelphia International.
2017
Part of the Webster Team, which won the Final Four of Collegiate Chess in New York.
2018
Graduated from Webster and moved back to India to join an ed-tech startup as a Product Manager.
2019
Quit the job to start Chess Gaja (then known as Chess Gyaan). Got the FIDE Trainer title, the youngest in Asia at that point. Coached the Indian Sub-Junior team to the Sub-Junior Chess Olympiad in Turkey. “The Modernized Berlin Wall Defense” was published by Thinkers Publishing.
2020
League Commissioner of Indian Chess.com League
2022
Coached the Brazil Open Team in the Chess Olympiad 2022 in Chennai.

Want to learn chess? From
GM Priyadharshan Kannappan

“Every chess master was once a beginner.” – Irving Chernev