European summer

Poh Yu Tian is spending time in Europe playing in back-to-back tournaments in Spain and Switzerland, and now heads on to a third event in Hungary: a continuous circuit of serious chess, each event tougher than the last.

Benasque, Spain

He started off at the XLIV Open Internacional “Villa de Benasque” in early July, a sprawling event that attracted almost 500 players. With so many grandmasters at the top, Yu Tian was seeded only 26th. Even so, he held his own admirably with a 7½/10 finish. That placed him just outside the top 20. Not quite breaking through, but very much in the thick of things.

I consider his run in Benasque as a warm-up in his search for a first Grandmaster title norm. It included wins over a string of strong Spanish players and a draw against FM Michal Bartel of Poland. Most notably, he ended with a fighting draw against Spanish GM Daniel Forcen Esteban (2551). There was only one stumble: a sixth-round loss to Indian GM Gopal GN (2549). Otherwise, he was solid throughout, showing a dependable ability to stay out of trouble and rack up points against opponents in the 2100–2250 range.

But it was in Switzerland, at the Biel Masters Open, where the pressure ramped up. The Biel Festival has long been a magnet for young talents testing themselves against a deeper field, and this year’s Masters was no different. Eighth-seeded Yu Tian again scored 7½/10, this time winning six games, drawing three, and losing one. Final position, sixth among 112 players. That loss, once more, came at the hands of an Indian grandmaster, Krishnan Sasikiran (2531). Among his wins was a tidy final-round victory over GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran (2454), which helped him close the tournament on a high note.

Biel, Switzerland

It’s worth noting a small but visible pattern: the boy seems to struggle a little against Indian GMs. But it must be acknowledged that they are strong, seasoned campaigners. Two tournaments, two defeats, both against Indian opponents, and in both cases, rather convincing losses. Not necessarily a flaw in his game, but a clear signal that to reach the next level, he must figure out how to navigate past these technically sound players who rarely give much away. Against most others in the 2400–2550 range, however, he's been holding up just fine.

Now, with the Spanish and Swiss legs behind him, Poh Yu Tian is headed to Budapest for the SixDays GM “B” event, from 27 July to 1 August. It’s a 10-player round-robin, compact and sharp, and very different from the Swiss systems he’s just come through. There’s nowhere to hide. He’ll be facing each and every opponent head-on: GM Sahaj Grover, GM Tamas Fodor Jr, and several ambitious international masters, all gunning for title norms.

This kind of format rewards consistency and psychological strength. Yu Tian has already shown this summer that he can handle long grinds and bounce back from setbacks. In Benasque, he recovered well after the loss to Gopal. In Biel, he shrugged off the Sasikiran defeat. He’s still only 15, still relatively fresh on the international circuit, and already demonstrating the sort of patience and poise many players take years to develop.

Nevertheless, I hope he’s not rushing things, no frantic push for immediate norms, no unrealistic goals. His European trip seems well thought out, each event building on the last, sharpening his game without wearing him down. This isn’t just about playing strong chess. It’s about learning how to survive the circuit: early preparation, post-mortems, long days, the slow accumulation of resilience and the occasional reminder that some opponents will simply be better on the day. But that is okay; chess is a long game.

Now to Budapest. It’s only a six-day tournament, but it could be the most intense leg of his European summer. He’s likely to be one of the youngest in the field, but by now, that’s just background noise. He’s already proven that he belongs. The question now is whether he can sustain it, day after day, in close quarters, against other title aspirants. Whatever the result, it’s another step forward.