NEW DELHI: Feedmaster (FM) Parson Jeet Dutta, a man whose life has been a series of strategic gambles and late game recoveries, runs a popular academy in the heart of New Delhi. For years, he followed a predictable ritual. Whenever a particularly gifted student walked through his door, Dutta would pick up the phone and call his former mentor, the 27th Grandmaster of India, Vaibhav Suri. He would ask for a tip, or as it might be said, a brief intervention to sharpen a young mind. Vaibhav would almost always say, “Sure, sir.” But now, that ritual has been stopped.The change has nothing to do with the breakdown of their bond, which Dutta describes as more frivolous than professional. It all boils down to the fact that Suri has disappeared into the high-stakes war room of 20-year-old R Praganandha. As the young phenom continues to battle at the highest levels of international chess, Suri, now 29, stands behind him as the primary architect of his preparation.
“Now, his full focus is on (Parganananda),” Dutta told Times of India.com during an exclusive interview. “He tells me, ‘Sir, you know everything. I don’t want to lose my mind.’ I tell him, ‘Son, that’s exactly what I want to hear from you.’
3000 rupees heart broken.
To understand the man behind Praganananda’s success in recent years, one must first understand the suri maker. Personjit Dutta’s journey began in 1989 in the remote chess grounds of Agartala, Tripura. By 1995, he was the National Sub-Junior Champion, India’s youngest FIDE Master, and a towering figure on the world stage in Brazil.But when it mattered, the clock ran out on his finances. “Because of FIDE’s final fee of Rs 3,000, I couldn’t pay,” Dutta recalled. “As a result, I kept away from chess for about three years. I thought that playing would be useless because I couldn’t do anything due to financial reasons.”Dutta eventually returned after seeing the names of his colleagues in the newspapers. He became a seven-time state champion and a university gold medalist. Two decades ago, he gradually started training children.At a tournament in Kerala with three of his students, a local paper called him “India’s youngest coach”. There she met Aditya Vikram Ahuja, a boy from Delhi. Agreeing to the father’s request to come to Delhi and train his son, Dutta began teaching occasionally. This was not a formal arrangement, as his academy still operated in Tripura.
Person Jeet Dutta (Photo by David Lalada)
It was at a state championship in Delhi that he first met Vibhu’s father, Nitin Suri.“He saw the improvement in Aditya’s performance and asked me, ‘Sir, where do you live? Can you coach?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll coach.’ But at that time, I wasn’t quite ready to stay in Delhi,” Dutta told the website.The turning point came when Delhi Chess Association (DCA) president Bharat Singh Chauhan visited Tripura. He visited Dutta’s small academy and saw potential in the young coach. “Prasanjit, come to Delhi, I will help you. We need more coaches, and your highest rating was 2317. I have known you for a long time. Come to Delhi. I will support you,” Chauhan told him. This personal motivation prompted Dutta to relocate.“My MA final exams were two months away. His father kept saying, ‘Sir, please, please.’ I thought, well, I have a chance here. I will try. If I am unable to appear in the exam, I can take the exam again,” recalled Dutta.By August 2006, he was training Vaibhav in Delhi.
Vaibhu Suri, a boy with a checkerboard.
Now that Dutta was in Delhi, grinding with nine-year-old Vaibhu had become his routine. What he found was a student whose stamina belied his age.“From August 2006, I trained him for eight to nine hours every day,” Dutta recalled. “I was doing everything I could. I played cricket and football at the state level. But teaching here from morning to evening, I felt, ‘Oh my God! I’ve never taught this long ago.’While the coach wilted from Delhi’s heat and stress, the student thrived. “The plus point was that my body was tired when we had long classes, but the boy seemed energetic, enthusiastic, more crazy about chess. It was the first time I saw something like that in a child,” he said. Even after seven hours of training, he still had the energy to learn.“
Vaibhav Suri (Special Arrangements)
Suri’s devotion was weak. “From the beginning, he was passionate about chess,” Dutta recalled. “Over the years, I noticed that he never let go of his chessboard and his bag of chess pieces, keeping it close to him when he slept. I used to ask, ‘What’s so special about that? Why don’t you let anyone else touch it?’In an age of digital distraction, young Suri was an anomaly. There was no television, no idle wandering. If a class was scheduled at 2pm and Dutta was five minutes late, he would be on call: “Sir, where were you? Come early.”
Confidence without show off
As the years passed, their relationship turned into friendly competition. Dutta, in his twenties and hovering around a 2300 rating, faced off against a pre-teen Suri to see who would be the first to claim the International Master (IM) title.“Wherever he plays, I will play,” Dutta said. “It was a total family atmosphere. His family treated me like their own son.”Suri’s first national tournament, in the under-9s at Solapur, saw him finish second. He was later selected for the Asian and World Championships. “That’s when I got my first laptop, gifted by his father, for proper coaching,” smiles Dutta.
I feel proud inside that he chose a good player in Praganandha and focused seriously.
FM Person Jeet Dutta, former coach of Vaibhav Suri
Suri has already demonstrated a depth of calculation, surpassing his mentor. Dutta used to test him with complicated positions from books.“I did it just to test,” Dutta added. “White king here, rook here, knight here. He answered correctly. He would think carefully for five minutes and answer again. He finished an entire book with me like this. I was shocked. I knew then that this player would be very difficult to stop.Suri’s style was defined by solid, positional understanding, allowing him to play with fearsome confidence. Dutta recalls a state championship where Surrey faced a formidable opponent.
Vaibhav Suri (Special Arrangements)
“He said, ‘Sir, my next round is against this tough guy. What do I play?’ I casually told him, ‘Play Perk Defense.’ I never fully prepared or showed him the line. Yet he went and won. What confidence! I could never have said to anyone else, ‘Just play this and you’ll win.’Vaibhav Suri became the 27th Grandmaster of India in 2012. Known to be classy and composed on the circuit, he rarely spoke but calculated everything on the board.It is these qualities, the lack of need for publicity, the refusal to show off, that make him the perfect second to R Praganandha. Also read: ‘We saw tanks on the road’: What it feels like to play chess in the midst of territorial disputes.In modern times, a second is part spring partner, part data analyst, and part psychological anchor. Suri, with his understated style and total immersion, has become the invisible hand behind Prague’s most daring moves.“He never seeks publicity,” Dutta concluded. “Even on camera, he remains calm. I feel proud inside that he chose a good player in Praganandha and focused seriously.”
