Darpan Inani

Last updated

Darpan Inani
Darpan Inani.jpg
CountryIndia
Born (1994-02-14) 14 February 1994 (age 30)
Vadodara, Gujarat, India
TitleA qualified Chartered Accountant, Para Asian Double Gold Medalist in Chess (2023), Bronze Medalist - World Junior Blind chess Championship (2013).
Peak rating 2135 (January 2020)

Darpan Inani is a prolific blind Indian chess player and a Chartered Accountant from Vadodara. He won 2 gold medals - individual as well as team gold medal - at Para Asian Games held in China in October, 2023. He had a career peak FIDE elo rating of 2135, the highest ever elo rating to have been attained by any visually impaired player from India as of January, 2024. [1] He won a bronze medal on his respective board in the 16th World Chess Olympiad for visually impaired held in Greece in 2021. He was also a bronze medalist at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Belgrade. He is the youngest player to have ever won the National blind chess championships. He is the only Indian visually impaired chess player to have ever won international first prize at the Creon Open chess tournament in France in August 2018. This was a historic moment for Indian chess when a visually impaired player won first prize in international open sighted tournament in his rating category. He is honoured with the Yuva Ratna award by All India Marwari Yuva Manch in April 2018 in Siliguri, West Bengal. He is the recipient of the Navratna Award - 2018 awarded by Yuma Television. He has featured in a commercial for HDFC Life.

Contents

Personal life

Inani's parents are Satish Inani (father) and Vimla Inani (mother). As a three-year-old, he was affected by the Stevens–Johnson syndrome and lost his eyesight completely. He is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and Para Asian Double Gold Medalist in Chess.

Academics

Inani is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA). He completed his entire schooling from a normal school, Baroda High school, Alkapuri, Vadodara gujarat. He was the only blind student there. He Competing with the normal children, he seldom scored less than 90% and consistently scored a rank in top 3. He opted for commerce stream in his 11th std. and scored 99.75 percentage in 12th std. He completed his B.COM from Maharaja Sayajirav University, Vadodara. In 2015, he also appeared for CAT, an entrance exam for the most prestigious management institute in India - IIM, to pursue MBA. In his first attempt at CAT, he received calls from all the IIMs of the country barring IIM Ahmedabad. But finally, he rejected the admission offer from IIM Lucknow to pursue his CA and chess career.

Career

Inani won his first open district tournament (under 14) at Baroda in the year 2007. He beat sighted opponents to win the title. [2] He was the youngest to win the National blind chess championships in Mumbai in July 2010.

He was the youngest player to represent India at the World Blind Chess Championship in Serbia in 2010. He then represented India in the World junior chess championship for the visually challenged held at Rhodes in Greece in 2011. [3]

He won the bronze medal in the World Individual Junior chess Championship for the blind and visually impaired held at Serbia in September 2013. He scored 6/9 along with Damjan Jandric of Serbia. He overcame Damjan in the tie-break to take the third position. [4] [5]

He is the only Indian visually impaired chess player to have ever won an international prize at the Creon open chess tournament (open sighted tournament) in his rating category (ELO 1800–1999) in France, in August 2018.

He won an Individual Bronze medal on the 3rd board at the 16th IBCA World Chess Olympiad for visually impaired held in Rhodes, Greece in October 2021.

HDFC commercial

He was featured in an HDFC Life commercial entitled "Bounce Back". His life journey was the main theme of the advertisement, which illuminated how he overcame the manifold hurdles that came his way. This advertisement was appreciated and recognized by public at large.

Special appearance

He was invited for a special interview on the occasion of 70th Republic day on the exclusive telecast of 'Proud to be Indian' of Republic News Channel, which is one of India's leading news channels headed by Arnab Goswami.

Film

Inani has featured in the award-winning [6] [7] Chess documentary film Algorithms directed by Ian McDonald. [8] Algorithms is a documentary on little known sporting field of Blind Chess in India. The film features three upcoming blind players who reveal their daily struggles, anxieties and hopes.

Awards

Inani is honoured with the Yuva Ratna award by All India Marwari Yuva Manch in April 2018 in Siliguri, West Bengal. He is the recipient of the Navratna Award - 2018 awarded by Yuma Television.

Public Speaking

Inani is an eloquent orator. His style of expression is very free spirited and unconventional. He has delivered talks on many reputable platforms and events like TEDxYouth at LMGC lucknow and FICCI Ludhiana.

Contributions

Inani has contributed towards the initiative of "INCLUSIVE EDUCATION" to encourage awareness and sensitization of inclusive education in the society. He believes that inclusive education not only helps in academic excellence but also leads to the development of the society holistically by promising full social inclusion.

He is also associated with Project checkmate, an initiative to spread blind chess in India. He has assisted this project with his inputs and advice and has also mentored its students.

See also

Related Research Articles

Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the title can be revoked for cheating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koneru Humpy</span> Indian chess grandmaster

Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgár's previous record by three months. In October 2007, Humpy became the second female player, after Polgár, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark, being rated 2606.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krishnan Sasikiran</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 1981)

Krishnan Sasikiran is an Indian chess grandmaster.

Rico Mascariñas is a Philippine (Filipino) chess player with the title of International Master. He was one of the premiere chess players of the Philippines during the 1980s and the 1990s and for a long period of time he was the No. 2 ranked player of the Philippines behind Grandmaster Eugenio Torre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harika Dronavalli</span> Indian chess grandmaster

Harika Dronavalli is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Harika was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India. In 2016, she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China and rose up from world no. 11 to world no. 5 in FIDE women's ranking. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surya Shekhar Ganguly</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 1983)

Surya Sekhar Ganguly is an Indian chess grandmaster. His peak ELO rating was 2676. Ganguly became an International Master at the age of 16 and a grandmaster at the age of 19.

Abhijit Kunte is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pravin Thipsay</span> Indian chess grandmaster

Pravin Mahadeo Thipsay is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster. He is the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster Norm and the first Indian to win the Commonwealth Chess Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All India Chess Federation for the Blind</span>

The All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) is the governing body for the game of Chess among visually impaired in India. It was formed in 1997 with a view to promoting the game of chess among the visually impaired all over the country. It is registered under Society Registration Act, 1860; Public Trust Act, 1951 and Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 12A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chess in India</span>

Chess has risen in popularity in India in the last few decades primarily due to chess Grandmaster and former 5-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akshayraj Kore</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 1988)

Akshayraj Kore, is an Indian chess player and a Grandmaster. In 2006, he became Maharashtra's youngest International Master at the time after he won the Invitational IM Norm Round Robin Chess Tournament in Luhansk, Ukraine. In February 2013, he became India's 32nd Grandmaster.

Oliver Barbosa is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He earned his International Master title in 2008 and his grandmaster title in 2011. Barbosa won the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Tournament in New Delhi, with 9.5/11 and an astounding Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) of 2710. By winning the said tournament, he also raised his ELO Live Rating from 2573 to 2627 as he gained 53.8 ELO rating points to become the Philippines 3rd Super GM. He earned his first GM norm in the Asian Individual in Mashad, Iran and his second norm in the Philippines National Championships. In 2014, he tied for 1st–2nd with Francisco Vallejo Pons in the Thailand Open Chess Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vidit Gujrathi</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 1994)

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi is an Indian chess grandmaster. He attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating threshold of 2700.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gukesh D</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 2006)

Dommaraju Gukesh, is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he is the third-youngest person in history to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in March 2019.

Jessica T. Lauser /LAWser/ is a visually-impaired American chess player and the current, 5-time reigning U.S. Blind Chess Champion. She is the first-ever woman to win the national championship for blind and visually-impaired players, which she’s done every year, since 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balaji Guttula</span> Indian chess player (born 1979)

Balaji Guttula is an Indian chess player holding FIDE Master and FIDE Trainer title. He achieved his peak rating of 2320 in 2005 and was conferred with the title of FIDE Master in 2009. He has coached and mentored many students like Kush Bhagat, Shiven Khosla, and Suhaani Lohia in a coaching career spanning over two decades. He founded South Mumbai Chess Academy in 1996 with his brother Durga Nagesh Guttula.

Kush Bhagat is an Indian chess player with an International FIDE Rating. His current and the peak rating is 2324. He is a Student at South Mumbai Chess Academy, trained by Balaji Guttula.

Suhaani Lohia is an Indian Chess Player with an International FIDE Rating. She is one of the youngest individuals to earn the Woman Candidate Master. (WCM) title in India. Her current and the peak rating is 1645. She is a Student at South Mumbai Chess Academy, trained by Balaji Guttula.

Soundarya Kumar Pradhan is an Indian para chess player from Odisha. The visually challenged chess player was selected for the Indian team that took part in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games. He won the Men's Team Rapid VI-B1 gold medal on 28 October 2023 along with Darpan Inani and Ashwin Makwana. He also won a silver medal in the individual event.

Ashwin Kanchanbhai Makwana is an Indian para chess player from Gujarat. The visually challenged chess player was selected for the Indian team that took part in the 2022 Asian Para Games, Hangzhou, China. He won the Men's Team Rapid VI-B1 gold medal on 28 October 2023 along with Darpan Inani and Soundarya Pradhan. He also won a bronze medal in the individual event on the same day.

References

  1. ↑ FIDE. "FIDE Chess Profile: Darpan Inani". FIDE. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Kumar Anand, Johnson TA (7 October 2012). "The inward eye". Indian Express. New Delhi. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  3. ↑ Special Correspondent (9 July 2011). "Gongolli, Inani and Saikrishna for junior chess". The Hindu. Mumbai. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  4. ↑ Mohite, Manisha (1 September 2013). "Darpan Inani wins bronze at world junior blind chess". Mumbai. Mid Day. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Phatarpekar, Kushal (2 September 2013). "Inspired by Anand, Darpan wins historic chess bronze". Hindustan Times. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "India's Algorithms wins best film trophy at Film South Asia festival". Kathmandu. IANS. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Algorithms wins award at Jean Rouch International Film Festival, Paris". IMDB. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Algorithms - The documentary film". Akampuram. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.