| Adhiban Baskaran Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 10 in |
| Weight | 73 kg |
| Date of Birth | August 15, 1992 |
| Zodiac Sign | Leo |
| Spouse | Srinithi |
Adhiban Baskaran is an Indian chess player who is widely acknowledged as one of the country’s finest chess players ever. In 2010, he had become just the 23rd player from India to have attained the title of Grandmaster. In March 2019, he had become just the 5th Indian to have breached the magical 2700 Elo rating mark after Viswanathan Anand, Krishnan Sasikiran, Pentala Harikrishna, and Vidit Gujrathi. In April 2019, he achieved his peak position of 38 in the FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) men’s world rankings. The same month, he earned his peak FIDE rating of 2701. He had won the 2008 World Youth (Under-16) Chess Championship and the 2009 Indian Chess Championship. In 2010, he won the ‘Bronze’ medal in the men’s team event at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
Born Name
Adhiban Baskaran
Nick Name
The Beast
Sun Sign
Leo
Born Place
Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Residence
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality
Occupation
Chess Player
Family
- Father – Baskaran
- Mother – Leela
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 10 in or 178 cm
Weight
73 kg or 161 lbs
Girlfriend / Spouse
Adhiban has dated –
- Srinithi (2021-Present) – Adhiban got married to his long-term girlfriend Srinithi in November 2021 in his hometown of Mayiladuthurai.
Race / Ethnicity
Asian (Indian)
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Slender frame
- Short-cropped, wavy hair
- Bespectacled
- Affable smile
- Sports a beard
Adhiban Baskaran Facts
- Adhiban’s nickname, The Beast, is a nod to his hyper-aggressive style of play.
- He had first come into the spotlight in 2007 when he won the Asian Under-16 Championship. In both 2007 and 2008, he had played on the first board for the ‘Gold’ medal-winning Indian team at the Under-16 Chess Olympiad.
- In 2011, by winning the Cultural Village tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, he had qualified for the 2012 Tata Steel C tournament where he had tied for the 3rd place with a score of 8.5/13.
- At the 2013 Chess World Cup, he had caused an almighty upset in the first round by beating 2710-rated Russian Grandmaster Evgeny Alekseev. The same year, he had turned heads by winning the Sants Open in Barcelona which had featured 23 Grandmasters and 28 International Masters.
- In July 2014, he won the Masters Open tournament of the Biel Chess Festival, an annual chess tournament that takes place in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. A month later, he was instrumental in India’s ‘Bronze’ medal win at the 41st Chess Olympiad by scoring 7/11 on board 4.
- In January 2016, he had clinched the 2016 Tata Steel Challengers tournament which had earned him a spot at the next Tata Steel Masters tournament. At the 2017 Tata Steel Masters tournament, despite being the lowest-rated player, he stood 3rd with a score of 7.5/13.
- In 2018, he won the Reykjavik Open with a score of 7.5/9. The same year, he had also won the Tournament of Piece-Zagreb held in Croatia. The event was special as the tournament had been revived after a gap of 33 years.
- At the 2021 Chess World Cup, a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament that was held in Sochi, Russia, he had reached the 3rd round and was India’s 4th best-performing player – behind Vidit Gujrathi (quarter-final), Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (4th round), and Pentala Harikrishna (4th round).
- Many had tipped him to be India’s best player in that tournament but he ran into Vidit in the 3rd round who beat him 4.5-3.5 in a tiebreaker that turned out to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller. It was a bittersweet experience for Indian fans as they did not want their 2 best bets in the tournament to face each other this early in the competition.
- He runs a self-titled YouTube channel where he regularly vlogs and posts chess-related content. The channel has amassed more than 50k subscribers.
Featured Image by Adhiban Baskaran / Instagram
