Chapter · Mind · Chess
Lose a Game, Then Come Back: What India's 100th Grandmaster Teaches About Recovery
Anuj Shrivatri lost Round 1, then scored 7 from 8 to become India's 100th grandmaster on 8 November 2026. Here is the free three-step blunder check and the brain study behind it.
On 8 November 2026, Anuj Shrivatri lost the opening round of the 7th Asenso ASEAN+ Individual Chess Championship Open in Ozamiz City, then scored 7 points from his next 8 games to finish first of 40 and become India's 100th chess grandmaster (ChessBase India; The Hindu, 9 November 2026).
I am a researcher in psychology and nutrition for high-performing athletes, published on behalf of my universities, with a previous research master's in neuroscience and human movement at a medical university in the Netherlands. The British Olympic team commissioned research from me and my supervisor in England. This chapter takes the real moves from that tournament and pairs them with a simple safety check you can use on any board, and any bad day.
I. Round 1: find the turning point
In Round 1 against Christian Gian Karlo Arca, Anuj stood level until move 20. After `20...Qc6`, White's passed pawns marched down the board and decided the game in 31 moves (Lichess broadcast).
The habit that changes games after a loss is simple: open your game, watch the evaluation graph, and stop at the single biggest swing. You do not need to memorise twenty lines of theory. You only need to see the one moment the game turned.
II. The three-step blunder check
Before you commit to a move in a tense position, run Dan Heisman's three-question safety check:
1. Checks? Are there any checks for either side? 2. Captures? Play out every legal capture in your head. On Anuj's real move-20 position, `Qxe5` loses the queen and `Bxf5` loses a piece, while `hxg2` holds the position level. 3. Threats? What does your opponent's next move threaten if you play quietly?
III. Why pausing works in the brain
Under pressure, speed feels like confidence, yet rushing hides simple tactics. In a 1998 brain-imaging study in Science, Cameron Carter and colleagues showed that the anterior cingulate cortex became active when people made errors and when a task demanded close monitoring under conflict (Carter et al., 1998, Science, 280, 747–749). Pausing for three structured questions gives that monitoring system time to work before your hand reaches the piece.
IV. Free tool to use today
You do not need paid software to run this check on your own games:
- Paste your last loss at lichess.org/paste (free, open source).
- Tick Request a computer analysis.
- Click the biggest swing on the graph and ask which of the three questions—checks, captures, or threats—you skipped there.
V. Then come back: Round 9
Eight rounds later, against James Morris in Round 9, White played `29.Bb5?`. Running the same three-question check shows why `Bxc4` loses a piece and `Rxc1` loses the exchange, while `Bxe3` is best and keeps Black in command through the 33-move win to 0-1 (Lichess broadcast).
Viswanathan Anand wrote on X that evening: "Happy Diwali. A cracker of a 100." Anuj told The Hindu: "It's really great to see hard work pay off."
Educational content only, not clinical or medical advice.