The First Move

In February 2020, six-year-old Supratit joined Lenzie Chess Academy — less a plan than a way to stay busy after school while his parents were at work. He had no idea that small weekly class would become the center of his life.

Weeks later, the world shut down. Lenzie moved its lessons online, and Supratit kept showing up — first for group classes, then for inter-club matches against opponents he had never met in person. What had started as something to fill an afternoon became a habit, then a pursuit, and eventually something much bigger.

By the time he swapped the screen for a real board — after the family moved to London in 2022 — Supratit joined Coulsdon Chess Academy, where he began playing regularly against adults.

A year later, he joined Barnet Knights, followed by AD's, gradually working his way up through the 4NCL — from Division 4 to Division 2. That progression eventually led him to Kingston Chess Club, where he stepped onto the stage of 4NCL Division 1 and began competing alongside some of the strongest players in the league.

By then, something had changed. Chess was no longer simply an activity after school. It had become a serious ambition. And the journey that had begun with a six-year-old simply looking for something to do was beginning to take him somewhere very few could have imagined.

Yet, despite everything that had changed, one thing remained clear: Chess was still the thing he loved most.