Exclusive | ‘If there were chess tournaments in Bangladesh, why would I come to India?’: 80-year-old Rani Hamid | Chess News

Rani Hamid (Photo credit score: Special association)

NEW DELHI: Balaji Sudarshan is a 2012-born chess prodigy from Tamil Nadu who was up towards 80-year-old Bangladeshi legend Rani Hamid in spherical 6 of the Delhi International GM Open Chess Tournament 2025.Going into the sport, Hamid had suffered three losses, all towards lower-rated opponents in the primary 5 rounds, and that, maybe, performed a component in the Woman International Master (WIM) arriving on the taking part in corridor 5 minutes late for the scheduled begin of 4pm IST.Carrying her acquainted orange-coloured juice in a plastic bottle, a behavior she has adopted all through the event, Hamid first quietly deposited her belongings, together with her luggage and cell phone, on the volunteer’s desk.

The deposit desk (Photo credit score: Special association)

Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!With regular eyes and absolutely the calm of expertise, she entered the taking part in corridor, bottle in hand, decided to change the course of her marketing campaign. But little did she know that the 13-year-old throughout the board had sufficient solutions to her questions on the 64 squares.Within the following hour-and-a-half, Hamid, the primary Bangladeshi to earn the WIM title, was again on the volunteer’s desk, gathering her belongings. Accompanying her was a younger Sudarshan.Noticing the curious glances from volunteers, Hamid, born as Sayeda Jasimunnessa Khatun, supplied a heat smile and mentioned, “He has played really well. I want to analyse games with him.”Outside the taking part in corridor, three tables were arrange with chessboards. It was right here that the octogenarian legend and the teenage expertise sat down, chess items between them, as equals, as associates, talking the language of the sport.

Rani Hamid analyzing recreation with younger Balaji Sudarshan (Photo Credit: Special association)

For the following 45 minutes, they mentioned strikes and concepts, their age hole bridged by their shared love for chess. As Hamid herself put it, “I don’t try to teach or show off to anyone. I play for the joy of it, I enjoy it. I believe we should do whatever brings us happiness, don’t you think?” (laughs)This isn’t Hamid’s first go to to Delhi for chess. In truth, her affiliation with the capital goes again practically 5 many years. “I first came here for a tournament when Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was President of India,” she recalled, referring to the interval between 1974 and 1977.

Among the reminiscences etched in her thoughts from these early tournaments is one involving a younger Viswanathan Anand, lengthy earlier than he grew to become a family title.“Anand, at that time, wouldn’t usually spend more than five minutes on anyone. He’d make his move quickly, get up, and walk around while your clock ran. But against me, he didn’t get up from his chair for half an hour. Can you believe it? I waited half an hour before making my move, and as soon as I moved, I left the board,” Hamid told TimesofIndia.com.“His mother was pacing nervously. I told her, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve made a bad move. Your son is winning now.’ I had actually launched a really good attack, but he sacrificed his rook, defended, and then promoted a pawn to queen. I didn’t even see it coming. I wasn’t that good at the game!”

‘Mojar Khela Daba’

Hamid’s path into chess was by no means a part of a grand plan. Chess advanced in her life from a household pastime to a nationwide legacy.Growing up in a sports-oriented household, with a father who excelled in numerous video games, together with chess, and later marrying a supportive, sports-loving military officer, Rani was at all times surrounded by encouragement.While she modestly claims she solely centered on taking part in, her constant success, profitable the Bangladesh nationwide championship 20 occasions and the British Chess Championship thrice, turned her into an inspiration.

Her late husband MA Hamid, deeply concerned in selling sports activities, pushed her to write “Mojar Khela Daba” (The Fun Game: Chess), a information that grew to become extensively well-liked, particularly in Kolkata.“Whenever I’d go to Kolkata for tournaments, the coaches would ask me to bring copies of the book because it helped them teach. I tried to write it in a style that was easy to follow, almost like grammar lessons. In the beginning, it explained how to write moves, what to do because players would come from villages and small towns, and they didn’t know how to notate their games. None of us knew! In the villages, they’d just play for fun,” She defined.“I was actually really lucky. The Bangladesh champion back then was my neighbour; he was married to my classmate’s elder sister. Playing with him helped me improve quickly… People say I’m 80, but I started playing when I was 33. I never played to gain anything. If I’d known chess could give so much, maybe I’d have taken it more seriously, prepared better, tried for the GM title. But I didn’t do any of that. You can’t become a GM playing one tournament a year!”

India’s Khadilkar sisters

With the Bangladesh Chess Federation becoming a member of FIDE in 1979, her first main publicity on the worldwide stage got here on the 1981 Asian Women’s Championship in Hyderabad. Hamid was untested on such platforms.“Before that, we hardly had any international exposure. I went to Hyderabad with no expectations. Niaz Murshed, the first South Asian Grandmaster, told my companion, ‘You might get 1-2 points, but the lady going with you will get nothing,’” she recounted.“Back then, women’s chess in India was led by the Khadilkar sisters: Jayshree, Vasanti, and Rohini. Two of them had already become WIMs, so they wanted the youngest to get the title too… But when I went and won 6 rounds, Rohini’s coach got nervous. I had a match against her in the next round. He even came up to me to ask if I had read the latest Informant (a chess publication). I didn’t even know what that was! I tried to avoid his questions, but he kept asking until I finally gave up, ‘What is this latest Informant?’ That was the level of our preparation; I just played for the love of it.“

‘If Bangladesh had chess tournaments, why would I come to India?’

Despite particular person flashes of brilliance, Hamid is sincere in regards to the challenges which have held again chess in her nation, admitting, “Bangladesh hasn’t progressed in chess the way India has because we don’t have strong organisers. We lack good guidance, and everyone wants to sponsor football or cricket. The economic challenges are real. But above all, the weakness in the organisation has hurt us the most. There aren’t any tournaments. If there were, why would I come all the way here to play? But the DCA (Delhi Chess Association) invited me, arranged tickets, food, I’m grateful.”ALSO READ: ‘Earlier, I used to beat Indians at will’: What international chess stars in their 30s, 50s, and 80s say about India’s dominanceHamid, mom of 1 daughter and three sons, smiles when reminded of previous victories that stunned even her. “I beat the U18 World Champion once, and I also beat the world No. 3 at one point. That created quite a stir. But neither the federation nor I ever planned anything for my chess career, so it never became something bigger”When enquired about future plans, she would take a sip from her bottle and mentioned: “I live in the future now!” (laughs)