Born Exactly 50 Years After Garry Kasparov, 13-Year-Old Pratitee Bordoloi Scripts History In Italy

Thirteen-year-old Pratitee Bordoloi is already making waves in world chess, and not just because of the medal hanging around her neck.

The Bengaluru-based Woman FIDE Master (WFM) scripted history by winning silver in the Girls Under-18 category at the FIDE World Youth Chess Championship in Montesilvano, Italy.

But what has intrigued many is an uncanny link with one of the greatest players the game has ever seen: Garry Kasparov.

Pratitee was born on April 13, 2013, exactly 50 years after Kasparov, who was born on April 13, 1963.

While the shared birthday is an interesting coincidence, her coach, Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, believes the similarities run much deeper.

“Some of the traits I see. Even in a bad condition in a tournament where she’s lagging

behind a point or something, she plans it well to try to beat so that she can do at the top,” Thipsay told TOI.

Those fighting qualities were on full display in Italy.

Entering the championship as only the 16th seed with a FIDE rating of 2129, Pratitee remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, collecting seven wins and four draws to finish with nine points from 11 rounds. The performance earned her India’s only medal among 13 participants across six categories, besides securing her maiden Woman International Master (WIM) norm and a gain of more than 129 Elo rating points.

Yet Thipsay believes chess is only one part of the teenager’s remarkable profile.

“Pratitee is not completely a chess player. She’s a mathematical wizard, and she comes first in all the exams,” he added.

A student of Shishya BEML Public School in Bengaluru, Pratitee qualified for the World Youth Championship after winning the National Under-17 Girls Championship in Ahmedabad earlier this year.

Her rise, however, began almost by accident.

According to her mother, Pranti Dutta Bordoloi, Pratitee’s chess journey gathered momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without years of structured training behind her, she stunned the Karnataka chess circuit by winning the state championship at just nine years old in 2022, before adding the National Under-9 title in Indore only six months later.