Self-belief helped blind Darpan Inani script a chess success story
Darpan lost his vision completely when he was just three years old. Undeterred, with the unstinting support of his parents, he completed his CA and won two gold medals for the country at the Para Asian games in 2023
Aruna Raghuram
The philosophy that has driven Darpan Inani’s life is simple. “Chess and life are about vision and not visibility,” says the 30-year-old who won two gold medals (individual and team) at the Para Asian games held in China in October 2023.
Darpan defeated sighted players at the Creon Open International Chess Tournament held in France in 2018. This made him the only, and first-ever, visually impaired chess player from India to get first prize in a sighted tournament at the international level! In fact, 80-90% of his chess career has involved playing with sighted opponents, he says.
An only child, Darpan was born in Udaipur. The family moved to Gujarat when he was six months old. He has been based in Vadodara ever since. When he was just three years old, tragedy struck. He was afflicted with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a rare life-threatening condition, and lost his eyesight completely. By the time he was eight years old, he had undergone 50 surgeries.
Mainstream school
When the doctors gave up, his parents decided to focus on getting him a good education. Darpan’s father, who has a jewellery business, and mother, who is a homemaker, wanted him to study in a mainstream school. Many schools refused admission, but his father kept trying.
Finally, he was admitted to Baroda High School in class 3. Till then, he had been homeschooled. “It was a life-changing experience to study in a mainstream school. I was the only blind student in the school. The teachers were very supportive, and friends helped him get around the school. In the recess, my best friends would stay with me while the other children went down to the playground,” says Darpan.
An exceptionally bright student, he has never had to go for tuition classes. He would either top the class or obtain second rank in school.
Interestingly, Darpan has never used Braille for reading, writing or appearing for exams. “I have stayed mainstream, enabled by technology. The school authorities would scan question papers, and I would answer them using a talking software called JAWS,” says Darpan.
JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a computer screen reader programme that allows blind and visually impaired users to read the screen with a text-to-speech output.
When chess entered his life
“I could not play physical sports like kho kho and kabaddi. Along with my father, I visited Blind Welfare Association in Vadodara and got to know about a specially designed chess board for the visually impaired. I was attracted to chess because it is the only sport where you can compete with the sighted and beat them without any relaxations or modifications in rules,” he says.
Darpan’s father Satish Inani taught him the basics of chess. “At the Blind Welfare Association they gave us a ball, a pack of cards and the chess board. We did not want him to play cards. The ball would not work while playing with a sighted person. So, we encouraged him to take up chess seriously,” says Satish.
Darpan joined a BCom programme at M S University and studied for CA (chartered accountant) exams parallelly. In 2015, he appeared for CAT and got admission in IIM, Lucknow. “My parents were not willing to send me to Lucknow for two years to be on my own. I was just 21. Also, at IIM the studies would have been very hectic, and I would not have been able to pursue chess. Moreover, I was already a CA,” explains Darpan.
At present, he is self-employed. He is almost as passionate about studying the equity markets as chess. His work hours are 9 am to 4 pm and he works from an office in his home.
“Till a year ago, I would practise chess for two hours a day. Now I ramp up my practise before a tournament and devote six to seven hours to chess. I work with my coach Srinath Narayanan before a tournament. He comes and stays with me, and we work on strategies. I also play online chess and solve chess puzzles which sharpens the technical eye. When I learn something new, I experiment at local tournaments,” says the youngster, explaining how he prepares for a chess tournament.
Playing with an opponent is important. But so is preparing openings, middle games and end games, he explains. Apart from watching recent games, he watches classical games of earlier world champions.
‘My parents are my backbone’
Though Darpan does not remember the faces of his parents, their support has played a huge role in his success. His mother, Vimla Inani, travels with him for national and international tournaments. “I maintain his score sheet during a game. I also take care of his food needs. It was a very proud moment for us when he won the two medals for the country at the Para Asian games in 2023,” she says.
Says his father: “We cannot express how happy we feel when our child achieves something. If we are known today because of our son, it is the biggest source of joy for us.”
Darpan says he is an aggressive player. “Instead of killing the possibilities and playing a calm game. I like a ‘messy’ game!”
“Darpan has excellent strategic sense and logic. He excels at logical thinking in general, and this spills over into chess as well. I wouldn’t call it a weakness, but his dynamic play has room for improvement,” says his coach Srinath.
“He has remarkable resilience. I saw this come to the fore particularly during the Para Asian games last year, when he bounced back after a heartbreaking classical event where he missed the bronze by a whisker. In general, his resilience and his attitude towards life stands out. Darpan excels in several fields. If he chooses to focus his attention on chess, the sky’s the limit for him,” adds the coach.
Role models
The people who have inspired Darpan are Viswanathan Anand in chess and Stephen Hawking. The late Hawking was an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist who was paralysed and lost his speech.
Darpan met his idol Anand in 2010, when he became the youngest player to win the National Blind Championship at 16 years. It was a very special moment for him.
Darpan’s current FIDE (World Chess Federation) Elo rating is 1939. “My highest rating has been 2135 – the highest-ever that has been achieved by a visually impaired player from India. This was pre-Covid. After Covid, I lost some momentum and lost 200 rating points.”
“In a chess game, it is mandatory to write down your score. When my opponent announces his move, the picture changes dynamically in my head with each move. I get to know the positioning of pieces. I know the manoeuvres that are possible. If required, I can touch the board in case I can’t recall the picture in my mind,” explains Darpan.
“If you play well for four hours and falter in the last half hour, all is lost. You lose the entire game. It is a challenge to concentrate for so long and exhaustion kicks in.”
Gukesh’s win
About Gukesh’s win, Darpan believes it will popularise chess in India even more. “Anand was the earlier world champion from India five times, the last time being in 2012. In 2013, we lost the title. After a hiatus of 11 years, the title has come back to us,” says Darpan with a smile.
Darpan has won the U13, U15 and U17 age category sighted state chess tournaments and represented Gujarat state in the nationals several times. He has been conferred with the Rashtriya Swayamsiddh Samman award by Jindal Steel & Power Ltd in the category of sports. He has also been honoured with the Yuva Ratna award by All India Marwari Yuva Manch.
Motivational Speaker
Darpan has delivered several talks, including a much-appreciated talk on the platform of TEDxYouth in Lucknow. He usually talks about the challenges he has faced and how he overcame those. And, the mindset people should have. “Resilience is vital whatever challenges come your way,” he insists. In his TEDx talk Darpan has said: “‘I can’ is more important than IQ”!
Darpan has featured in the lead role in an award-winning chess documentary called ‘Algorithms’.
Talented in music as well, he has learnt the harmonium and table for four years. “Chess took over and I could not pursue learning music. I listen to Bollywood songs these days. My favourite singers are Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal. I read only non-fiction, specifically self-help books. I have a collection of the soft copies of 500-600 books and use JAWS to go through them,” says Darpan.
I also read about the financial world and keep abreast with current affairs. Reading about the markets takes up two hours of my day,” he says.
“I have never used a white cane in my life. I can manage in my home and office. But in an unknown place I need help to walk around,” says Darpan.
“Initially, I found it difficult to lose a chess game. I was used to performing well academically. However, I now realise that sports and academics are very different. Sports are unpredictable. Now, I learn from my defeats,” signs off Darpan
