Gold Medalist Shares His Top Coaching Game

GM Srinath Narayanan is one of Chess.com's most impressive and accomplished Coaches of the Month yet. Most recently, Srinath made headlines as the captain of India's team at the 2024 Chess Olympiad that scored an amazing 21/22 to win gold! Srinath is also a FIDE Senior Trainer, the highest officially-recognized level of coach there is, and his notable students include GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Nihal Sarin, and IM Divya Deshmukh. As a player, Srinath achieved the grandmaster title in 2017.

Srinath recently shared with Chess.com his approach to coaching, his favorite game and coaching puzzle, all the coaches who helped him in his career, and much more.

At what age were you introduced to chess, and who introduced you?

At the age of five. We were on a vacation travelling by train, and my brother and cousin were playing chess in the train. That aroused my curiosity.

What is your first vivid memory from chess?

Winning the State Under-7 championship in my first attempt, at the age of six is one of my earliest memories. S.P. Sethuraman, who is a popular GM now, was the first seed. I remember winning material by a fork, playing ...Ne3 with his Rook on f1 and Bishop on c4, in a Scotch game. Beating him was a major breakthrough for me at that time, as I had lost a lot against him until then.

Which coaches were helpful to you in your chess career, and what was the most useful knowledge they imparted to you?

My first coach was Mr. Sakthi Prabhakar. He immediately recognized my potential and gave me a lot of focused attention and help. I had different coaches helping me a lot in various stages of my career. K.V. Shantharam, Mari Arul, Preetham Sharma, Varugese Koshy R.B. Ramesh, Abhijit Kunte, Alon Greenfeld, Andrey Deviatkin are also coaches who helped me at various times in my career.

What is your favorite or best game you ever played?

How would you describe your approach to chess coaching?

Minimal interference. I identify my student's strengths and try to allow it to flow, with minimal guidance to overcome obstructions along the way.

What do you consider your responsibility as a coach and which responsibilities fall on your student?

As a coach my main responsibility is analyzing and strategizing. I study my student's game, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and then give them a roadmap on how to improve. Their responsibility is to execute.

How does your approach change with GMs or IMs compared to other players/students?

The level of micromanagement required goes down as the level of the player goes up. The stronger players intuitively tend to have an idea of what they should execute and are a little more self-aware. With younger kids and at a relatively lower level, the level of micromanagement increases.

How does coaching a team in a competition like the Olympiad compare to a traditional one-on-one coaching setting? What are the similarities and differences?

Coaching a team is quite different from individual one on one sessions. The role involved is different. It is no longer focused on just one individual, but oversees a larger group. So there is relatively less attention on one particular individual. You observe the moods of 5 different people, coordinate with the assistant coaches, liaise with the administrators, etc. When working with an individual one on one, it is a lot more focused. 

What is a piece of advice that you give your students that you think more chess players could benefit from?

Make sure to enjoy playing!

What is your favorite teaching game that users might not have seen?

From the 24th move onwards, Black's defense in this game is incredible. Whilst the exchange sacrifice in Reshevsky-Petrosian is quite well known, this example isn't as well known, but incredibly instructive.

What is the puzzle you give students that tells you the most about how they think?

I have a collection of a set of puzzles. Here is one of them:

Here it looks like White loses a piece by force. White needs to find 1.Qg3!! the point being if 1...Nxg3, then White mates after 2.Ng6+ hxg6 3.hxg3+. So Black has to play 1...Rxf7 and after 2.Nxf7+ Qxf7 3.Qe5 White has a slightly better position. 

This position tests the imagination and creativity of the student. It is also a puzzle that I use to illustrate how we use pattern recognition in chess - a lot of them struggle on this one because they haven't seen this particular pattern. The lead up to this is usually a number of simpler examples with more recognizable patterns.

Do you prefer to teach online or offline? What do you think is different about teaching online?

I prefer teaching offline as being in person gives much more information in general. But online is a lot more convenient and economical.

What do you consider the most valuable training tool that the internet provides?

Being able to play against stronger opposition.

Which under-appreciated chess book should every chess player read?

Move First, Think Later by IM Willy Hendriks.

How big an accomplishment was it for you to become a FIDE Senior Trainer?

The recognition felt great and motivates me to continue working in the same direction.