Leon Mendonca's journey: From battling illness to becoming World Cup rseserve

NEW DELHI: Earlier this year, 19-year-old Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca arrived astatine Wijk aan Zee afloat of hope, lone to beryllium crushed by exhaustion arsenic his eagerly awaited Tata Steel Masters debut became a grueling trial of endurance.Entering the fray arsenic past year’s Challengers champion, Mendonca had hoped to footwear disconnected the 2025 with a bang. But conscionable arsenic helium longed to situation the world’s elite, unwellness struck.

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“I was conscionable exhausted, you know, fatigued, everything,” Leon tells TimesofIndia.com successful an exclusive interview. “I would astir apt slumber similar 13 hours a time and had nary vigor to prepare. My full mindset during the crippled was to spell backmost to the room.”The results inevitably suffered arsenic helium finished 2nd last, starting the twelvemonth connected a debased note.

Nine months on, Leon has been named the authoritative reserve for the FIDE World Cup 2025 successful Goa. If immoderate of the FIDE President’s nominees retreat earlier pairings are announced, Leon volition measurement in.For the Goan GM, it is some a 2nd accidental and designation of his persistence.

Sibling rivalry: A accidental brushwood with chess

Leon’s travel with chess began with an in-house rivalry. “My sister, who is 3 years older, started learning chess from a section mates adjacent our house.

She was similar six oregon 7 years old. And astatine that point, I was similar astir 4 years old,” helium recalls.“I was conscionable looking astatine what she would bash astir of the time. I mostly liked to bushed her astatine immoderate she tried, truthful that’s however I started with chess.”

What began arsenic a sibling rivalry soon turned into a superior pursuit.Goa, however, had nary existent chess culture.“Back then, it was perfectly nothing. None of my household members played chess, and the coaches could lone instrumentality you to a definite level,” Leon adds.

But endowment spoke early. At conscionable eight, helium won a bronze medal astatine the World Youth Championship successful Durban. That changed everything.The household backing Leon's fortitudeThe medal successful Durban forced the household to instrumentality a hard decision. “If we truly wanted to instrumentality this further, we had to marque immoderate sacrifices,” Leon admits.His begetter near his occupation to question with him crossed India and abroad, portion his mother, a doc astatine Goa Medical College, held the household dependable connected the fiscal front.

“This is not astatine each a trivial decision. It takes a batch of foresight, readying and there’s nary warrant thing volition happen,” the teen shares.From Nagpur to Bhopal and past to Chennai, Leon sought stronger training.GM RB Ramesh guided him done his teenage years. Later, nether GM Vishnu Prasanna, Leon recovered thing different.“He encouraged maine to inquire a batch of questions — wherefore americium I doing this, what is this each for? It was a philosophical approach, not conscionable astir results.

Slowly it sunk in, and it changed my mindset,” the Grandmaster adds.Only the 2nd GM from the authorities of GoaLeon’s breakout twelvemonth came successful 2024, erstwhile helium won the Tata Steel Challengers, earning a spot successful the Masters this year.“That was astir apt 1 of my astir important victories,” helium says. “It gave maine the accidental to play a ace tourney with the world’s best.”

But chess is unforgiving. The unwellness astatine Wijk acceptable disconnected a unsmooth archetypal fractional of 2025.“Either the tournaments went mean oregon not excessively well. I realised thing was stopping maine from going to the adjacent level. Around June, I worked connected identifying patterns successful my losses. Now it’s astir putting that into practice,” helium reveals.The signs are encouraging. Leon finished associated 2nd astatine the Chennai Grandmasters Challenger and has picked up signifier successful the recently-concluded FIDE Grand Swiss, wherever helium finished with 5/11 points.For a lad who erstwhile tagged on to his sister’s classes, Leon has travel far, propelled by parental sacrifice and the volition to rebound from setbacks.The World Cup reserve slot is yet different milestone successful his relentless quest for chess glory. It is going to beryllium a agelong roadworthy for Leon to execute that dream. But the Goan teen decidedly knows the value of patience, perseverance, and setbacks, and helium so is conscionable disconnected the blocks.