Deep Thoughts on Chess Improvement by Gukesh’s coach GM Vishnu Prasanna

GM Vishnu Prasanna is a man of deep insights and wisdom. He has worked with many top Indian chess players.

One of the students whom he nurtured from a young age is GM Gukesh, who’s currently one of the strongest juniors in the world.

In conversation with GM Avetik, Vishnu shared many rich insights around chess improvement, revealed some lesser-known qualities that make Gukesh the player he is today, the biggest challenge most adult improvers face, his perspective-shifting experience as a second at a super-GM tournament, and more. 

While his pupil became a GM at 12, Vishnu had a very different beginning.

“It was my mother who introduced me to chess when I was around 12. I was playing a lot of cricket but we moved to a different part of Chennai, and then I started playing chess. Times were different back then. There were no 12-year-old GMs at that time.”

But there was a legend who also came from the same city.