Managerial Lessons from the Game of Chess – Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay
Last updated on: 22nd July, 2025 | Distinguished Guest Sessions | Aditi Jyoti, Class of 2023 << back to blog
Published on: 8th August, 2022
One thing that can motivate the students of the PGPM program right after a night filled with FRA preparations and an exam that followed, is the will to witness the Grandmaster of chess, Mr. Pravin Thipsay himself. Great lakers are nothing if not resilient creatures of habit, and one of them is praising the greatness that is around us. So when the happenings of our neighbourhood hit our ears that the International Chess Olympiad is being held right next to us, all we could hope was to get a glimpse of the chess grandmaster.
Mr. Pravin Thipsay who is heading the Indian contingent at the 44th International chess olympiad has many accolades to his name. The eminent of them all is being the first Indian to hold the Grandmaster title from FIDE. This chemistry master not only aced the organics of the world but also a number of prizes including the win of commonwealth chess championship multiple times. He is the ace of the game that is proven to ameliorate the brain’s intelligence.
During his hour long address, Mr. Thipsay gave us a glimpse of his life and spoke to us about how chess made him more disciplined and strategic at his workplace.
Not just a great player, Mr. Pravin Thipsay is an even better trainer, who has been the one who coached Vishwanathan Anand, and so as he arrived, in addition to the students, even our eminent faculty members and the Dean embraced his presence.
Connecting the strategic background that chess has, to the application of strategy in day to day work, is a task of sheer brilliance that a man of Mr. Thipsay’s calibre could manage.
In addition to all his achievements, he was also honoured with the Arjuna award, and a postal stamp issued in his name.
The literary and real life experience resonated around all of us present there in the auditorium as we got to know that we are the masters of our own life, we take accountability for our actions just how we are the generals of our own army.
He drew multiple analogies from the game of chess to tell us how important identifying the diversity around us is and how we should manage a pool of talent as managers. This is something that I personally resonated with, as I am a strong advocate of empathic acknowledgement of talent and managing those around is in accordance with their individuality rather than a set standard.
Mr. Thipsay quoted that “We have a good bishop and we have a bad bishop, but we form our game strategy around it” and that is what we have to do in life. He also narrated how he could better manage his subordinates and team members during his banking career.
As we run across classrooms, we might overlook the fact that there is more to becoming an efficient manager than just the books and spreadsheets. It is how strategically we plan our actions to align with the ideals of the organisation and in effect with managing our team. We need to know that even if we fail once, there is a prospect that lies ahead of us, this is where the grandmaster said that the game of life is like the game of chess, where the past game doesn’t account for future wins.
Aditi Jyoti
PGPM Class of 2023