Vista senior excels at chess

For those that say chess is not a sport, you're entitled to that opinion, just as Arun Dixit, this week's athlete of the week, is entitled to his. Dixit believes chess is a sport because two people are playing a game, something is at stake and it's competitive, as both players are trying to win. Dixit also believes he's an athlete because he said he burns a lot of calories playing chess. "Games can take a long time to play," Dixit said. "I've played a game that lasted more than seven hours and my neurons in my brain were just firing away. It's not something everyone can do." Dixit certainly isn't your run-of-the-mill recreational chess player. He recently received a Fide Master (FM) rating, one of only about 8,300 people worldwide to have this high rating. In the game of chess, there are only two rankings higher for chess players and those are international master and the highest rating of them all, grandmaster. Dixit, a 17-year-old senior at Vista del Lago, is most proud of his FM ranking, but in the last 11 years he's also played in about 170 tournaments run by the United States Chess Federation, as well as seven or eight international tournaments, including as far away as India. He said he took to the game right away. "My dad brought home that checkered board and chess pieces one day from work when I was 5 years old and it was like love at first sight," Dixit said. "I didn't really get into until 2014 when I went to a chess camp when I was 9. I was like, 'where have I been all this time.'" Dixit said his very first tournament he entered, he lost all five of his matches and finished in last place. In 2015, he placed third in a tournament and won his first trophy, which he said was 'beautiful.' His family, dad, Anshul, and mom, Upasna, moved to Folsom in 2017 from Iowa and he continued to excel. One of his proudest tournament wins came in 2019 at the Sacramento Closed Chess Championships. He missed qualifying for the tournament in 2018 and returned the following and year and won it outright. Dixit is happy to have the support of his mom, who he said arranges everything when he plays in a tournament. From the travel to the fees to the food, mom is there. His dad helps in getting him mentally ready before he plays. His coaches and friends also support him. His goal in chess is to become a grandmaster, which is the highest level a player can attain. He said it's something he could possibly achieve in 10 years or so if he put his mind and time to it, but said it's harder for adults to achieve the ranking because life gets in the way and adults don't have the time to focus on the game. What Dixit likes best about chess is the complexity. "After the first five moves, there are more than a trillion possibilities and it's just mind-boggling to me," Dixit said. "I just love the challenge of trying to solve chess with my little human mind." To be a good chess player, Dixit said a player must be passionate about it and committed to it, and he said the person must play as many games as possible. Just like any other sport, a good chess player must practice. Dixit estimates he plays between 200 and 300 games a week on chess.com. Always wanting to give back, Dixit works with a Sacramento non-profit "WeEmbrace" where he teaches chess to people with intellectual disabilities. "There are a lot of good players and good people in the group," Dixit said. "I hope and wish people in society can be more accepting and welcoming to these people. They're capable of more things than people think."