New Delhi: Earlier this year, 19-year-old Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca arrived at Wijk Aan Zee full of hope, would only be destroyed by fatigue due to the long-awaited Tata Steel Masters debut.Entering the fight as the Challengers champion last year, Mendonca hopes to start 2025 with Bang. But as he missed the challenge of the world, the disease hit.“I’m just running out, you know, tired, everything,” Leon told Timesofindia.com in an exclusive interview. “I might sleep like 13 hours a day and have no energy to prepare. My whole mind during the game is to go back to the room.”The result was inevitable when he was in second place, starting this year on a low note.
Leon Mendonca During Round 2 Challenge from Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters
Nine months, Leon has been named the official reserve for the Fide 2025 World Cup in Goa. If any of the Fide Presidential candidates withdrew before the couple was announced, Leon would step in.For Goan GM, it is a second chance and a recognition of his persistence.
Brother’s competition: Opportunity to meet with chess
Leon’s journey with chess begins with internal competition. “My sister, who is three years old, began to learn chess from a local couple near our home. She was six or seven years old and at that time, I was 4 years old,” he said.“I just saw what he would do all the time.
Leon Mendonca while challenging round 6 from Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters
What started as a competition of relatives soon turned into a serious endeavor.Goa, however, has no real chess culture.“At that time, there was nothing. None of my family members played chess, and the coach could only take you to a certain level,” Leon added. But the talent spoke early. Only eight, he won the bronze medal at the World Youth Championship in Durban. That changed everything.Families that support Leon’s perseveranceDurban medals forced families to make difficult decisions. “If we really want to take this further, we have to make some sacrifices,” Leon said.His father left his job to travel with him all over India and abroad, while his mother, a doctor at the Goa Medical College, holds a stable family in front of a financial front.
Leon Luke Mendonca during the 8th Challenge of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters
“This is not a trivial decision.From Nagpur to Bhopal and then to Chennai, Leon is looking for a stronger exercise.GM RB Ramesh guides it through the years of teenagers. Then, under GM Vishnu Prasanna, Leon found something different.“He encouraged me to ask a lot of questions – why do I do this, what is this? It’s a philosophical approach, not just about decisions. Slowly it sank, and it changed my mind, “Grandmaster added.Only the second GM from Goa StateLeon’s refugee year came in 2024, when he won the Steel Challengers, secured a place in Masters this year.“That’s probably one of my most important wins,” he said. “It gives me the opportunity to play Super Championships with the best in the world.”
Leon Mendonca & PA Niyan During the 8th Challenge of Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters
But chess is unacceptable. The disease in the wijk subdued the first half of the year by 2025.“Whether the tournament is going on a flat or not too good. I realize something has prevented me from going to the next level. Around June, I worked to identify patterns in my losses.The signs are encouraging. Leon took second place at the Chennai Grandmasters Challenger and took the form at the recent Grand Swiss Fide, where he finished 5/11 points.For a man who had been marked together with his sister’s class, Leon had come a long way, mobilized by parents’ sacrifice and the will to bounce out of the resignation.The World Cup reserve slot is another important event in non -stop efforts for the glory of chess. It would be a long way for Leon to reach that dream. But Goan teenagers definitely know the importance of patience, perseverance, and backwardness, and they are just from the block.
