As a teen, he played at a decent level and found his way into representing his university.

However, Naresh wasn't born into any family wealth and soon realised chess was not going to be his future.

"I was very passionate about chess during my time but couldn't get any support to pursue it," Naresh tells DH. "I played at the state level and was eager to go to the next stage. People constantly said chess won't give you anything, so I discontinued."

While Naresh could not afford to dream big, he was disciplined enough to build a runway for his daughter Nakshatra's dreams to take off. As fate would have it, she took a liking to chess.

"My first memories of chess is watching my father play during Covid-19 pandemic, and him explaining which direction each piece moved," Nakshatra tells.

An indicator that she would take interest? Perhaps. That prompted Naresh to take her to a training institute at the age of six. And it did not take much for Nakshatra's game to spike as she earned wins in multiple U-7 and U-9 competitions.

The Bengaluru girl then went on to capture several Karnataka state championship titles, and picked up a bronze in the Asian Youth Championships, which put her in the spotlight.

At this point, Naresh had already decided to give Nakshatra time to see if she could carve out a career in the sport.

"I did not want my kids to be in my situation. So I always thought it was good to take risks if there is a potential for the future. When she started doing well, my wife and I decided to go all in," Naresh adds.

The progress continued. Nakshatra represented India and bagged double gold medals in the Commonwealth Championships (2024). Two years on, she won three gold medals in the same competition.

While constant travel became the norm, regular school wasn't an option.

The Velammal institutions (Yelahanka branch), where all of Gukesh D, Vaishali R and Praggnanandhaa R went to in Tamil Nadu, decided to support her when Naresh approached them.

And so far, the risk has paid rich dividends. Nakshatra, a Woman Candidate Master (WCM), is also India's No. 1 player in the U-10 category.

"I play six hours of chess daily. I solve puzzles (mate in three/five) and also solve book puzzles. I also play badminton with this, and once that is done, I train tactical moves on the board."

"I want to become a Grandmaster, a world champion, and hope to inspire kids to take up chess," says Nakshatra, who draws inspiration from Arjun Erigaisi.

Naresh, an IT engineer, has dug into his savings to invest in Nakshatra's future. And he is also not shy to let the world know that the road ahead is difficult.

"People think chess is easy, but it is very expensive. I have spent around 35-40 lakh on 10 tournaments. Few future tournaments are also on stand-by. We met the Deputy Chief Minister last week, and he made some recommendations, but much has materialised. I'm also trying to reach some of the private firms as well, but so far no luck."

Name: Nakshatra Gumudavelly

Age: 10

Major achievements: India No. 1 (U-10 category) Triple gold medal winner (Commonwealth Championships) gold (Asian Schools Championships) bronze (Asian Youth Championships).