| Surya Sekhar Ganguly | |
|---|---|
 Ganguly at Tata Steel Chess, Kolkata, 2018 | |
| Full name | Surya Sekhar Ganguly |
| Country | India |
| Born | 24 February 1983 Calcutta, India |
| Title | Grandmaster (2003) |
| FIDE rating | 2574 (March 2024) |
| Peak rating | 2676 (July 2016) |
| Peak ranking | No. 55 (March 2010) |
Medal record | |
Surya Sekhar Ganguly (born 24 February 1983) is an Indian chess grandmaster. His peak ELO rating was 2676 (July, 2016).[1] Ganguly became an International Master at the age of 16 and a grandmaster at the age of 19.
He has won 40 individual gold, 21 individual silver and 6 individual bronze medals in National as well as International tournaments. He was also the captain of the Indian team in the Asian Nations Online Cup 2020 which won the 2nd place. In addition, in team competitions he has won 12 gold, four silver and three bronze medals. Some of his recent achievements are winning individual gold in Hunan International Open (2019),[2] individual gold in World Team Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan (2019),[3][4] gold in National Team Championship Kolkata (2019),[5] bronze in Binhai International Open, China (2018)[6] and bronze in Asian Team Championship in both Classical and Rapid in Iran (2018).[7]
The government of India has awarded him the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2005 for his outstanding achievement in sports. He was awarded ″Bangabhusan″, the second-highest civilian award of West Bengal, in 2015. He was also awarded the "Khel Samman" award in 2013 from the Government of West Bengal and the "Shera Bangali" award in 2009 as the best Sportsperson of Bengal.
He was six-time National champion (2003–2008) and Asian champion in 2009. He worked in the team of seconds that assisted Viswanathan Anand in winning the World Championship matches against Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and Boris Gelfand in 2008, 2010 and 2012, respectively.
In 2023, a movie about his life was announced. The director is Pratikrit Basu.[8]
Ganguly has played numerous individual and team tournaments, both national and international. He has won total 40 individual gold, 21 individual silver and 6 individual bronze medals in National as well as International tournaments and as a member of team he has won 12 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals. He achieved his IM (International Master) title at Goodricke International, Kolkata 2000 and the GM (Grand Master) title at the 35th Chess Olympiad, Bled 2002. Some of his notable achievements are given here.
In addition to the National U10 and U12 championships mentioned above, Ganguly's achievements in other national events are:
Ganguly was born 24 February 1983 in Kolkata. His grandfather, the late Anil Basumallick, taught him chess at the age of 5. Soon he became very popular in chess circles of Kolkata as he was the youngest player in most tournaments taking place during those days and also won prizes. In 1991, at the age of 8, he won both the Indian National U-10 and U-12 Championships. He won these Championships again in 1992 and 1995.
The following are his achievements in the World Youth Chess Championship in his age categories:
In 1995, at the age of 11, he beat a Grandmaster, the youngest player ever to do so until that time.[9]
Ganguly has been a member of the team of seconds that helped Anand win his World title matches against Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand in 2008, 2010 and 2012 respectively. Other members of the team were GM Peter Heine Nielsen, GM Radosław Wojtaszek and the former FIDE World Champion GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov.
Anand has praised Ganguly for being very effective as a team member. About Ganguly, he says, "He is a very good chess player and analyst who works really hard. We (have worked) together for six–seven years and will work together for a long time. Why change formula when it's working."[81]
He was born to Pankaj Ganguly and Aarti Ganguly on 24 February 1983. He has an elder sister who is a doctor. He is working as Senior Manager at the Indian Oil Corporation. He married Sudeshna Dutta, a doctor in biotechnology, in 2011. They have two children - a daughter and a son.
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The following game is from 11th Edmonton International Tournament 2016,[87] a 10-player round robin event. Ganguly (White) was paired against Alexei Shirov (Black) in the last round. It was a must-win situation for both players, Ganguly to finish equal first with Shankland and Shirov to finish equal second with Ganguly.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.a4 bxa4 14.Ncb4 Nxb4 15.cxb4 0-0 16.Rxa4 a5 17.h4 Bh6 18.b5 Bd7 19.Nc3 d5 20.exd5 e4 21.Be2 f5 22.d6 Kh8 23.g3 f4 24.Rxe4 Bf5 25.Re5 Qf6 26.Qd5 fxg3 27.fxg3 Qg6 28.g4 Bc8 (Diagram)
29.Ne4!! Following Gelfand's teaching that it is not important how quickly you win but it's more important how safely you win. (Boris Gelfand: Positional Decision Making in Chess, Quality Chess UK, 2016). The computer says 29.Qd4 is the fastest route but Ganguly trusts Gelfand. Bb7 30.h5 Qxe4 31.Qxe4 Bxe4 32.Rxe4 Rfd8 33.Rd4 Finally, all complications are over and White is two pawns up. While calculating 29.Ne4 Ganguly had to just make sure that he didn't lose his vital 'd6' pawn that restricts Black's activity. Bc1 34.d7 This is again the safest way as it totally restricts Black. Bxb2 35.Rd5 Rb7 36.0-0 g6 37.h6 Ba3 38.Rf7 a4 39.Re5 Rbb8 40.Bc4 Bf8 41.Kg2 a3 42.Ba2 Bd6 43.Re6 Bf8 44.b6 White will play b7 when Black will be able to move nothing but his bishop. Shirov decided not to continue any further. 1-0
