Geetha Narayanan Gopal Explained

Geetha Narayanan Gopal
Country:India
Birth Place:Muvattupuzha, Kerala, India
Grandmaster (2007)
Peakrating:2611 (July 2010)
Fideid:5015693
Show-Medals:yes

G.N. Gopal (born 29 March 1989) is an Indian Chess grandmaster from Cochin, Kerala. Gopal became Kerala's first grandmaster in 2007 at 18 and India's sixteenth grandmaster.

He won the bronze medal in the prestigious 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November 2010. He also won the bronze medal in the World Team Championship held in Bursa, Turkey in January 2010.

Early life

Gopal was born into a Nair family in Muvattupuzha as the second son of Prof B. Narayana Pillai and Prof Geetha Prakasini. He has an elder brother, Gokul, who is a Computer Engineer.

Gopal started chess at the age of 10. He was initiated into chess by his father. He won his first national championship in Chandigarh in 2001. He became the National Junior Champion (U-20) at the age of 15 in 2004.He won his first international championship in his first international exposure in 2003 in Dubai Juniors, Dubai.

Personal life

Gopal is working as an Assistant Manager at Bharat Petroleum. He lives in Aluva.

Key achievements

National events

Asian events

Olympiads and World Team 2010

Olympiads: He has represented India in three successive Chess Olympiads namely Dresden 2008,Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 and Istanbul 2012

World Team Chess Championship 2010: His team India won bronze in the prestigious World Team 2010

Recognition

He received the prestigious Tigran Mets Medal during the Lake Sevan 2007 where he was the joint winner. "The Tigran Mets Medal" is a highly prestigious and very special honor of the Republic of Armenia.