Who am I?

Hi! I am Priyadarshan Banjan — chess player turned investor + entrepreneur.

Delhi, 2016 - Photo by the amazing David Llada

While my friend Nihal Sarin thinks I must be the worst chess player to have ever lived, my love for the game runs deep.

Background:

After learning chess at 14 (quite late as you can see) and playing tournaments across India, I dropped out of college and CA at 19. I hitchhiked across southern India and lived in a home for homeless before chess returned to rescue me. By education, I remain an Inter. Chartered Accountant.

Chess:

Since dropping out, I have worked as a chess coach, organized tournaments, marketed chess products, worked as an arbiter, organized tournaments, reported events as a chess journalist, acted as an official photographer in several tournaments, worked as a manager for a couple of (incredibly) talented titled players — mainly Nihal Sarin, and edited one of the best chess news portals of the world (ChessBase).

In 2015, I helped found ChessBase India - a monopoly in chess content in India.

From 2017 to 2019, I served as the Media Officer of the All India Chess Federation (AICF).

Outside Chess:

In 2017, after transitioning out of chess, I worked my way up to become the Head of Marketing for Akshayakalpa, a Bengaluru-based Organic Milk and Food Products company. My area of focus was building the digital revenue growth for the business from scratch to INR 100 Cr+ by revenue in approximately 3 years.

Since 2021, I trade and make deals happen between company builders.

I love to eat rice with tomato saar, chicken sukka, prawns, with a dash of dried fish.

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