Need to work on my consistency: Parimarjan Negi

New Delhi - Parimarjan Negi, the youngest Indian to become a Grand Master, said Tuesday that he needed to work on his consistency en route to reaching his target of a 2700 Elo rating.

Negi, who won the individual title at the Asian Continental Chess Championship May 13 in Vietnam, attributed his success to hard work, resilience and determination. Having reached a rating of 2660, he said he wanted to keep the momentum going and continue working on his game.

“My performance has improved over last couple of years and now I want to work on my consistency and keep on the momentum. I haven’t done anything different in this tournament. I guess it is a natural progression but also something that comes with effort. Psychologically I have become stronger,” Negi told reporters here.

“I’ll be playing in Holland and Spain in July and then in August will be the Olympiad. My target is to achieve a 2700 rating.”

Negi, who was part of the Indian team which beat Iraq to win the silver at Asian Nations Chess Cup at Zao Zhuang in China, said losing a game at times proved to be a great motivational factor.

“No one likes to lose but it is unrealistic to think that something that will never happen to you. Of course when you do lose, it isn’t as if you can pretend nothing is wrong. For a couple of hours you can take out your frustration and let your feelings out. But after that I simply get back to preparing for the next game”, he added.

Parimarjan is the second youngest Grand Master in the history of the game. He is the youngest Indian to achieve the Grand Master and International Master titles.