Northeast's first GM, 17-year-old Mayank Chakraborty and pupil Pratitee Bordoloi become Asia's junior chess champions

NEW DELHI: Mayank Chakraborty became India's 94th Grandmaster and the first from the Northeast region last March. He is still 17. Talking to him, however, gives away very little about his age; he sounds more like a man with years of experience on his shoulders.On Tuesday, he added another feather to his cap, lifting the coveted classical title at the Asian Junior Chess Championships in Mumbai. 13-year-old Pratitee Bordoloi clinched the classical title in the girls' category on the very same day.Chakraborty is from Assam. Bordoloi is based out of Bengaluru. However, for the past three-odd months, the distance hasn't mattered much. Chakraborty has been mentoring her, and it found a fairytale moment when both of them walked away champions from the same hall that only hosted Asia's some of the best players under the age of 20."Obviously, I became the champion; that's the best thing that happened to me," Chakraborty told TimesofIndia.com during an exclusive interaction. "But also one of my students managed to become the champion. It increases my happiness."Expanding on their preparation together, he added, "I've been mentoring her for almost three to four months now, and I started it all the way in World Youth in Monte Silvano, Italy."In Italy, Bordoloi clinched silver and became India's only medallist at the 2026 FIDE World Youth Chess Championship. On Tuesday, nevertheless, it was gold, along with a WGM (Women's Grandmaster) norm, which came without much help from her mentor during the tournament."During the tournament, it was a bit difficult because he was also playing, but before the tournament he helped me, specifically in preparing openings," an elated Pratitee told this website.Coming into the tournament as the No. 1 seed, Bordoloi felt the pressure. Her mother, Pranti Dutta Bordoloi, didn't dress it up."If I tell you no pressure, I think it will be totally lie," she said. "Whenever you play as the top seed, automatically, whether you want it or not, you will be under pressure. It's like you're giving someone a one-kilo weight on their head and telling them that they have to run now, and they have to come first."Chakraborty, also the No. 1 seed, had already won the Asian Junior Rapid title once before. But classical, he made clear, is the one that actually counts."Since Classical is the actual main form where you become World Champion, it's like I prove my superiority over everyone else," he added.Further explaining what it means to get his hands on the title, the teenager added, "Rapid Championship ends in one day, and this Classical Championship is a battle for six to seven days. So more hard work, more pressure... Classical chess requires a lot of opening preparation, mental training and all this stuff which Rapid chess doesn't require. Just play. Rapid chess is just about playing."Struggle is still going on. Same struggle, same life.Perhaps life has not changed much since becoming a Grandmaster for Mayank, as he muttered, "Struggle is still going on. Same struggle, same life."However, amid the "struggle", he still finds the room to mentor. How? "Honestly, I'm actually very good at multitasking, so I can manage time. I have a timetable," he said with some palpable confidence. "I have a routine, and I follow it very properly. I don't waste time. I don't have any distractions like social media and et cetera. So I can just focus on my work very well."In the next five days, Chakraborty is scheduled to fly to Turkiye and then Malaysia for chess tournaments abroad. On the other hand, Pratitee and her family are content with the WGM norm and the overall outcome of the Asian Junior C'ships, as her mother concluded, "Honestly speaking, if we do as much as we can in India, it will be very less expensive for us financially."If we do the same thing outside, it will cost 10 times more money for us."Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.