Lalit Kapoor Auto-Chess-O-Graphy

Full Name: Lalit Kapoor
Age: 42 Years
Native Place: Saharanpur
Family details: Wife Smt. Manu Kapoor (Business woman). Father Shri R.K. Kapoor, Brother Bhuwan Kapoor (Principal in Government School) and sister-in-law Smt. Meenu Kapoor.
Education: BSc (Electronics)
Occupation: Graphic Designer, Typesetter, Crypto Trader, Businessman.
How I started playing Chess: I learnt chess from my father at the age of 6-8 years. In my home, 8-10 relatives used to regularly play Indian style Chess and Seep every Tuesday. (Seep, or Sweep, is a fishing card game played with 52-card pack without jokers. The game is played by 4-players or 2-players. —Ed.) My father was a top player among them and I was the weakest. He always hurt my ego by winning dozens of games at a stretch every time. The positions Chamohri when there are only 4 pieces left on the board and Burd when there is lone king on either side are regarded as drawn games in Indian Chess. So winning side must take that into account and play accordingly. I came to know about International Chess through a chess primer in my father’s library when I was about 15 years old. I taught myself International chess rules and encouraged all my relatives one by one to play International chess against me. In the summer of 1995, I happened to read Howard Staunton’s A Chess Player’s Handbook which helped to substantially boost my playing strength.
Experience in OTB tournaments: I played OTB (Over the board) chess from 1995 to 2000 actively but could not get any outstanding results. I have played chess at college and university level from 1995-98 with total score of +17-0=0. I always got selected in university chess team but never got an invitation from my university to play in inter-varsity chess championship. After I left college, I came to know from a junior player (who played in inter-varsity chess afterwards) that they did this intentionally to settle the score with me! Saharanpur is a small place with limited facilities. In Saharanpur district Chess Championship 1997, I stood second but there was no prize or certificates given. Due to lack of tournaments in my region and financial constraints, I quit playing active chess in 2000 to pursue my Graphic Designing business. I played 5 OTB tournaments in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010 without any prior practice or preparation. I got my first FIDE rating (1872) in 2009 in C.S.Sharma Memorial Rating Tournament, Delhi. But after that I got busy again in my business and Correspondence Chess. I resumed OTB chess again in 2016 and went on to lose 125 rating points in just two rating tournaments. In 2017, I once again became Saharanpur district Chess Champion.
How I joined AICCF: This happened after reading an article by Shri V.D. Pandit in ChessMate, in which Shri Shams Khan displayed a very nice attack as White in Sicilian Defence. (The above-mentioned game is given elsewhere in this Bulletin)
Ambition in AICCF: To be a CCGM.
Favourite Opening in OTB Chess: Earlier it was Ruy Lopez and Sicilian Defence which I played actively till 2000. But today I can even start with 1.g4 with White and 1..a6 with Black as the opponents I meet today on the board are well versed in opening theory and I do not want to fall in an opening trap.
Favourite Opening in CC: I regard all openings are similar as far as there is no predictable drawn variation.
Favourite AICCF players: Shri P.B. Dhanish and Shri Om Prakash Mohanty in engine era; Sri N.R. Anil Kumar and Shams Khan in pre-engine era.
Progress in AICCF:

AICCF Engine Allowed Rating Graph (Glicko System)

Lalit Kapoor
AICCF Profile Photo

Editorial Note:
The above data is for AICCF Server, Engine Allowed Tournaments. Shri Lalit Kapoor did not play any Engine-Forbidden games as yet. From the trend graph, it will be noted that, Lalit Kapoor’s rating dropped off in Jan 2012 and he was inactive from Jan 2013 to Jan 2017, after which his rating picked up again, and is currently on the ascendant.

Progress in ICCF:
ICCF Games played 58
Current Rating: 2374

Lalit Kapoor
ICCF Profile Photo

Detailed Write up: I was an active CC player from 1996 to February 1999. In March 1999, I got my first computer and Fritz 5 software and all of a sudden, my love for CC vanished in a moment! I lost all my CC games by silent withdrawal. I feel sorry for that and should have resigned my games properly. After about 10 years, I read an article of Shri P.B. Dhanish in AICCF Bulletin and came to know about the revolution in Computer chess. Engines are allowed now, so I played in some ICCF and AICCF CC tournaments with some success. I also worked as Bulletin Editor of AICCF from 2009-2012 with the help of Dr. Ambar Chatterjee. After 2012, I got quite busy in my business and career, hence left both the AICCF Editorial board and CC altogether. Since 2016, I am playing CC actively with results much beyond my expectation.

Any other information you wish to add: I have an advice for OTB chess players who imagine that CC with the help of engines and databases results in drawn games. It is also a fact that more powerful engines and computer hardware does not always guarantee success: it is how you use these tools more effectively. Chess is now more open and no information is hidden for a lay person due to easy availability of free chess engines, opening databases and endgame tablebases. It is quite easy now to become a strong player but competition is much stiffer now. Today we have several chess prodigies such as R. Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh D., Nihal Sareen, etc. and in the coming years there will be many more as India is on the way to becoming a Chess Superpower.