Bengaluru, Oct. 20 -- As a young boy, Srinath Narayanan was fascinated by the idea of playing chess on the internet. It was the early 2000s and online chess was far from the global phenomenon it would become. "The idea of using the internet every day in those times was still a very new concept," the grandmaster told HT. "So was online blitz, which was then growing across the world. I was excited to play it and I remember this eminent person who pretty much shouted me down declaring - nothing good can ever come from playing online blitz."

Two decades later, with online chess thriving, Srinath says he can afford to laugh at the certainty with which his younger self was dismissed.

"As a 10-12-year-old, I understood the changing times bette...