And the crowning glory came last September when he obtained the International Master norm in three consecutive tournaments in Spain to become an IM. Besides, he attained one Grandmaster norm as well.

"My career has just started off. Becoming an IM and getting one GM norm is just the beginning," said the 17-year-old II PUC student of Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College. "I have set some specific goals. I want to become a GM this year itself and play in the European circuit," added Jayaram, who missed out on the Asian junior chess championship title narrowly in Mumbai last month. P Karthikeyan annexed the title on the basis of a superior progressive score.

With 2478 ELO points already in his kitty, Jayaram believes he has it in him to make it to the next level. "I need to play more tournaments frequently as that will give me the much-needed exposure. There are certain grey areas in my game, especially my opening, that I need to tighten. If I work on that, I see no reason why I can't break into the big league," observed Jayaram, a silver medallist in the Commonwealth chess (U-18) in Delhi last month.
Jayaram believes a little bit of international training and sponsorship will help him in achieving his target.

"I am extremely thankful to my coaches, Manuel Aaron, Ganesh, J P Prakash, RB Ramesh and my mentor Viswesaran. But if I get international training from renowned IM's and GM's, I can improve further," said Jayaram, who idolises Veselin Topalov and spends over seven hours a day playing chess.

Despite chess not being a spectator sport, Jayaram's father sounded upbeat about the prospects of his son getting sponsorship. "I agree chess is not a crowd-puller, but in the corporate world, there are a lot of people who support the game.”

Jayaram, who finished joint first in the FIDE-rated Cusat 2006 tournament in Kochi, is known not only for his accuracy and concentration, but also for his giant-killing acts. He scored shock wins over IM Sudhakar Babu (as an unrated player) a couple of years ago and the top-seeded Parimarjan Negi in the Asian junior chess championship last month.

"There are a lot of players who finish first in one tournament and then fade away. But I have been performing pretty consistently and have finished among the top three in most of the tournaments."

Attacking player
"He never plays for a draw. He always goes for a win because of which he has lost a couple of title chances," said Jayaram's mother Meena, a player herself. Chess players are known to be early starters but Jayaram started playing only at the age of 10. "We were in Japan earlier. There we didn't get to play much. Once we came back to India, Jayaram showed that undying passion for the game and he even had to drop out of the school for that," said Meena. "Now, he is able to strike a good balance between academics and the game and has scored 72 percent in his internals," she added.

As he gets ready for the National League in Chennai next week, Jayaram — ranked No 16 in the country — has his priorities clear. "Two more GM norms will make me a GM. So, 2500 ELO points should be my immediate target. Also, if I get to 2600, I can break into the top-10. Besides, I want to play in the World Junior and Youth championships."