Grandmaster Swapnil Dhopade is one of India’s premier chess coaches.
GM Dhopade’s ascendance to the Indian chess elite is particularly remarkable as he grew up in a region where little chess was played. Without much opportunity for coaching, he taught himself, largely through books and studying his own games.
He invented his own unique opening repertoires, and proved that he could play them at the highest levels. For example, his Benko Gambit repertoire, a combination of the Benko Gambit and Vienna Variation in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, was a repertoire he developed from a young age and refined through his career - and it brought him one of his grandmaster norms in a key tournament game.
Though GM Dhopade has seen plenty of tournament success, including an impressive 2768 Elo performance at the 2017 Isle of Man tournament, his passion is for teaching. In 2018, he decided to turn his love of teaching into a full-time job when he founded the Chess Pathsala Academy in India. The academy has been an instant success, and now offers lessons to players of all skill levels in three locations and online. His reputation has brought on considerable demand for his coaching - including from the India Women’s team, which he coached in 2019.
And now GM Dhopade is on Chessable, and you too can learn his formidable Benko Gambit repertoire. Check it out below!
