1999 (12th) Fulprint Congress, York, 8-10 January

[report dated 11 January 1999]

Thiruchelvam's World Record

A good win and valuable Onyx Grand Prix points for IM Matthew Turner, but all the glory was stolen by Thirumurugan Thiruchelvam, who finished in outright second place and took the qualifying place at the Smith & Williamson British Championship in Scarborough next August at the age of just 10 years and 1 month.

Murugan (as he is generally known) comes from New Malden, Surrey, and has made a habit of setting world records. His first was when he won an adult tournament (the Golders Green Minor) at 6 years 7 months. Then, last October at Maidstone, he was the youngest player ever to draw with a GM (Bogdan Lalic) and achieved a 225 (Elo 2400) performance in the same event. Now, following in the footsteps of such names as Capablanca, Pomar and Nigel Short, he has set his fourth world record and broken the record for the youngest ever qualifier for a national championship, held more recently by Luke McShane and Simon Buckley.

Neither Kandiah, Murugan's accountant father, nor Murugan's mother Shantha play chess so the boy picked up the moves watching his brother Kumuran playing on a computer. The polite and serious youngster, who is at the top of his class at Westbury House School, went on to take his first lessons in chess at Richmond Junior Chess Club, under the tutelage of Gavin Wall.

Murugan's coaching by GM Bogdan Lalic is helped by the British Chess Educational Trust and he uses chess software and databases to aid his learning. His tournament career advanced considerably in 1997 when, within a few months, he won the British Under 8, Onyx Under 10, England Under 11 and London Under 12 titles, while one of his endgames where he triumphed with queen and knight against queen and bishop was featured in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator.

He plays in congresses almost every weekend and, after winning Minors and Majors, began to hold his own in Opens. He played creditably against IM Andrew Whiteley in the Staunton Society Master v Junior match, then his performances at Jersey and Mill Hill broke Luke McShane's record as England's youngest ever internationally FIDE rated player. At 9 years 3 months he was among the all-time top ten youngest on the FIDE list. His trademark is a red-peaked cap he wears to every game. At the BT Wireplay event last month, PCA World Champion Garry Kasparov commented that Thiruchelvam was the "one to watch".

Murugan's opponents in the Fulprint York event were a selection of the most experienced and well-known players on the circuit. His results in order went :

1   v.  Roelof Westra, BCF 187, ex-Yorkshire and ex-British Veteran Champion  
½   v.  Graham Lilley, BCF 183, England's leading blind player  
1   v.  George Ellison, BCF 183, former British Championship player  
1   v.  Matt Watton, BCF 187, former York Open winner  
1   v.  Harry Lamb, BCF 189, British Championship player and FIDE Arbiter    
4½/5 at a rating of BCF 225.8, equivalent to 2406 ELO  

Murugan said : "I was confident I would do it. I gained a lot of experience last week at the Hastings Challengers, and in my speed game last month against Garry Kasparov. He's a nicer man than I thought but I still prefer Anatoly Karpov."

(Note : Thanks to John Griffith and Leonard Barden for providing material)

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OPEN SECTION: 5 Rounds, 53 players

(1) M Turner 5/5; (2) T Thiruchelvam 4½; (3-5) R Palliser, MP Townsend, DJ Walker 4/5

Grading prizes: H Lamb, G Lilley, C Hanley, J Boyd D Wolstoncroft, S McCormack, D McKerracher

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MAJOR SECTION (160 and under) 64 players

(1-2) P. Shaw, C. Wright, 4½/5; (3-6) O. Gill, R. Jennings, W. J. Smith, D. Lord 4/5

Grading prizes: S. Huxley, P. R. Clarke, N Smith, J Ayres G. Mitchell, P. Anderson, A. Moran, V. Krishna-Kumar.

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INTERMEDIATE SECTION (125 and under) 73 players

(1-3) N. Boustred, T. M. Jones, P. Salisbury, 4½/5; (4-7) R. Mounce, S. Crosthwaite, C. Callis, S. Ormerod, D. Bridle

Grading prizes: I. Robertson, N. P. A. Wright, V. Adatia

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MINOR SECTION (95 and under) 59 players

(1) S. Bolton 5/5; (2-7) S. Brooks, N. Capstick, J. Machin, P. Whittingham, M. Beardsley, E. Wright, 4/5

Grading prizes: A. Gardner, R. W. Oates, P. Gower, A. Price

Junior prizes: H. Coupe, J. Hanley, M. Watson

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File Updated

Date	Notes
11 January 1999	First uploaded as a news report on the original 4NCL website.
27 September 2026	Republished with a PGN file of 7 games.