Ridit Sunil Nimdia hates to part with his toys, loves homemade cheese pizza, sleeps eight hours a day and even quarrels with his eight-year-old sister. He does exactly what all five-year-olds usually do. But he does something more than the kids of his age. Ridit, who turned 5 last Wednesday, is the youngest player in the world to hold an international chess rating given by Fide and also possesses a green belt in martial arts.
For the moment, he manages to oblige the shutterbugs by smiling and runs around doing ‘masti’ all the time. But once he gets to see the 64 squares, he’s not the same boy anymore. The eyes roll up and the smile slowly disappears. The right hand hovers around the rooks and pawns while the left hand is firmly placed on the timer. It’s such a cute sight with him sitting on a bunch of pillows so as to ‘uplift’ him.
“He started watching Pihu (his sister) playing and learnt the game fast. Now, he makes it a point to play against his father every night. The game goes on till midnight on certain days,” his mother Richa declares proudly.
Ridit played in his first Fide tournament in Goregaon in May this year and beat a rated player right away. He was aged four years and 270 days then and thereby became the world’s youngest player to defeat a rated player.
