Remembering Ramesh Kaka: An Indian Olympian, a Shared Heritage and a Memory Worth Preserving

Ramesh Dhirajlal Sheth | 17 April 1938 – 27 July 1999
By Praful Zaveri

Having recently had the honour of serving as Coach and Captain of the St. Kitts and Nevis Open team at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, my thoughts turned to another Olympian—a stalwart from our own community who represented India at the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig, East Germany, in 1960: Shri Ramesh Dhirajlal Sheth.

Sixty-six years separated our Olympiad journeys. I never had the opportunity to meet him, yet the connections between us make his story deeply personal to me.

We are both Gujaratis and belong to the Dasha Sorthiya Vanik (DSV) community. We were both born in Mumbai and share roots in Bhavnagar. My mother came from Bhavnagar, and the families of my maternal uncles continue to live there. It was through these connections that I eventually came to know something of Rameshbhai’s life beyond the chessboard.

Through his nephew, the late Shri Madhukarbhai Sheth, he became, affectionately, “Ramesh Kaka” to me.

Madhukarbhai’s father and Rameshbhai were brothers. Naturally, Madhukarbhai referred to him as his Kaka—his paternal uncle. As we spoke about him, I too began to call him Ramesh Kaka. An enquiry about a former Indian Olympian gradually became a personal wish to preserve the memory of someone connected to my own heritage.

A friendship that led me to his story

My search began in 2012, when International Master IM Manuel Aaron Sir asked whether I could help trace his old teammate.

Aaron Sir and Ramesh Kaka had represented India together at Leipzig and shared a warm friendship. Aaron Sir knew of his connection with Bhavnagar and Bombay, but contact had been lost after Ramesh Kaka moved overseas. While working on Indian Chess History with Vijay D. Pandit, IM Aaron hoped to learn more about the later life of his friend.

With four maternal uncles from Bhavnagar, I felt there might be someone within our family circle who could help. Those connections eventually led me to Madhukarbhai.

Finding him brought a name from India’s chess history closer to home. It also provided a family connection through which Manuel Aaron Sir could learn something more about his friend.

Madhukarbhai did what he could to keep his Kaka’s memory alive. He shared the information and recollections available to him, helping us piece together parts of a life that had taken Ramesh Kaka far from India. Although the family’s contact with him had been limited, his efforts gave us a precious link to those distant years.

A brief career with lasting achievements

According to Indian Chess History, Ramesh Sheth was born on 17 April 1938 in Kandivli, Mumbai. His family roots were in Bhavnagar in Gujarat, while his competitive chess flourished in Bombay.

His years at the forefront of Indian chess spanned 1957 to 1961. It was a relatively brief period, but one marked by strong performances.

In 1957, he finished second in the Bombay State Championship, behind Nawab Ali and ahead of Rusi Madon. He also secured sixth place in that year’s National Championship at Poona. His best national result came in Delhi in 1959, where he finished fifth.

The following year, he earned the honour of representing India at the Leipzig Chess Olympiad.

He also contributed to Bombay’s victory in the 1960 Inter-Association Championship in Madras. Playing on the second board, he remained undefeated and scored 6½ points from eight games.

Leipzig: facing the world’s leading players

India had first participated in a Chess Olympiad at Moscow in 1956. Leipzig belonged to those early years of our country’s international team chess journey, when opportunities to compete abroad were limited and the gulf between Indian players and the leading chess nations was considerable.

India’s four-player team comprised IM Manuel Aaron, Ramchandra Bhargava Sapre, Mulk Raj Wahi and Ramesh Dhirajlal Sheth. Ramesh Kaka played on Board Four throughout the tournament, completing all 20 games.

The Indian team advanced to Final B and finished 24th overall. One of its most memorable individual achievements was Aaron Sir’s victory over former World Champion Max Euwe in the opening preliminary round.

In the next round, India encountered the formidable Soviet Union. Aaron faced former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, Sapre played Paul Keres, Wahi met Viktor Korchnoi, and Ramesh Kaka sat across the board from Tigran Petrosian.

The Soviets won the match 4–0 and subsequently won the Olympiad, ahead of the United States and Yugoslavia. Mikhail Tal was the reigning World Champion at the time.

For Ramesh Kaka, the encounter with Petrosian deserves particular remembrance.

Petrosian was already an outstanding grandmaster and the reigning Soviet champion. Three years later, he would defeat Botvinnik to become the ninth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1963 to 1969.

Ramesh Sheth played Black against him in the second preliminary round. The game began as a Queen’s Indian Defence and continued for 41 moves before Petrosian won.

The surviving score shows Petrosian building a broad pawn centre, expanding on the kingside and bringing his rooks into the attack. Ramesh Sheth sought counterplay on the queenside, including the advance of his b-pawn and activity along the open files. Eventually, Petrosian’s pressure prevailed; the recorded game ends with 41.Qf3.

For us today, the game preserves a remarkable connection: an Indian player whose later life became difficult to trace once tested himself against a man destined to become World Champion!

His opponent list also included the experienced Dutch master Lodewijk Prins, Argentina’s Osvaldo Bazán and Poland’s Jerzy Kostro and Andrzej Filipowicz. These encounters place his Olympiad contribution within the wider international chess world of his time.

Ramesh Sheth’s complete Leipzig record

Results below are shown from Ramesh Sheth’s perspective. “P” denotes the preliminary group and “B” denotes Final B.

Game	Stage / round	Opponent	Country	Ramesh’s colour	Result
1	P–1	Lodewijk Prins	Netherlands	Black	Loss — 0
2	P–2	Tigran Petrosian	Soviet Union	Black	Loss — 0
3	P–3	Edgar de Castro	Philippines	White	Win — 1
4	P–4	Karl Janetschek	Austria	Black	Loss — 0
5	P–5	Gian Piero Mercuri	Italy	White	Draw — ½
6	P–6	Osvaldo Bazán	Argentina	Black	Draw — ½
7	P–7	Jerzy Kostro	Poland	White	Draw — ½
8	P–8	Daniel de Oliveira	Portugal	Black	Loss — 0
9	P–9	Bernard Angles d’Auriac	Monaco	White	Win — 1
10	B–1	Guðmundur Lárusson	Iceland	Black	Win — 1
11	B–2	Emanuel Guthi	Israel	White	Loss — 0
12	B–3	Héctor Jiménez Rojas	Chile	Black	Loss — 0
13	B–4	Raúl de Cárdenas	Cuba	White	Draw — ½
14	B–5	Ilmari Niemelä	Finland	Black	Loss — 0
15	B–6	Andrzej Filipowicz	Poland	White	Draw — ½
16	B–7	Sigfred From	Denmark	Black	Draw — ½
17	B–8	Pedro Puig Pulido	Spain	White	Loss — 0
18	B–9	Kristian Sköld	Sweden	Black	Draw — ½
19	B–10	Ragnar Hoen	Norway	White	Loss — 0
20	B–11	Werner Groiss	Austria	Black	Win — 1

Stage	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Points
Preliminary group	9	2	4	3	4/9
Final B	11	2	3	6	3½/11
Total	20	4	7	9	7½/20 — 37.5%

His 7½ points equalled Sapre’s total, making them the joint highest scorers in the Indian team.

Remembering him through a victory

Among his four wins, the game against Iceland’s Guðmundur Lárusson offers a particularly striking way to remember his chess.

Playing Black in the first round of Final B, Ramesh Sheth used the French Defence. White’s queen captured pawns on the kingside, while Black developed active counterplay against the white king. The finish brought together his queen, bishop and knights, ending in checkmate on move 23.

Guðmundur Lárusson–Ramesh Dhirajlal Sheth
Leipzig Chess Olympiad, 1960 — Final B, Round 1
French Defence — 0–1

[Event “14th olm final B”]
[Site “Leipzig GDR”]
[Date “1960.10.28”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Larusson, Gudmundur ISL”]
[Black “Sheth, Ramesh D. IND”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C18”]
[PlyCount “46”]
[EventDate “1960.10.17”]

e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Ba5 6. b4 cxd4 7. Qg4 Ne7 8. bxa5 dxc3 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qxh7 Nbc6 11. Nf3 Qxa5 12. Bf4 Qa4 13. g3 Bd7 14. Ng5 O-O-O 15. Nxf7 Ng6 16. Nxd8 Qe4+ 17. Be3 Rxd8 18. Rg1 Ncxe5 19. Be2 Ba4 20. Kf1 Bxc2 21. Bxa7 Bd3 22. Qh5 Nf3 23. Bxd3 Nd2# 0-1

There is something moving about recovering such a game decades later. We may know little about his final years, but we can still follow his moves and see the combination he brought to the board!

A life that travelled beyond chess

Leipzig changed the course of Ramesh Kaka’s life in another way.

Indian Chess History records that a German family whom he befriended during the Olympiad helped arrange a scholarship for his higher studies two years later. He subsequently obtained a doctorate in steel structures in Leipzig and migrated to Canada.

During his German stay, he continued to send Aaron chess books by Luděk Pachman. I find this detail particularly touching. Amid his studies and a new life abroad, he remembered his friend and the game that had brought them together.

Madhukarbhai told me that Ramesh Kaka married after moving to Canada and had no children. Beyond these fragments, much of his later life remains unknown. The book records that he passed away in Florida, USA, on 27 July 1999.

I wish we had been able to learn more about his work, his home, his friendships and whether he continued to play chess in those later years. Those questions remain with me.

With Madhukarbhai’s passing, we have also lost the family member through whom I came to know Ramesh Kaka. His efforts to preserve his uncle’s memory now place a responsibility on those of us who received that story.

A photograph, twenty games and a place in our memory

The team photograph accompanying this tribute adds another precious fragment to the story. Shared in the Madras Local History group on Facebook, it shows the Indian chess delegation before its journey to the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad and brings us closer to the people behind the tournament records.

I am grateful to the group for making this photograph available. I have also posted an enquiry there, inviting members to share further information about the Indian team beyond what has been chronicled by Manuel Aaron. A photograph, a letter or a personal recollection could help us recover another part of this shared chess history.

The photograph deserves to be preserved alongside the games and the recollections of those who knew these players. Together, these fragments help us remember a generation whose contribution can otherwise slip quietly out of view.

Perhaps that is why, after my own Olympiad experience in Samarkand, I feel an even stronger need to write this tribute. I know what it means to be part of an Olympiad—the anticipation, the responsibility, the companionship and the memories one carries home.

Ramesh Kaka experienced his own journey decades before mine. He represented India, faced a future World Champion and contributed to our country’s early international chess history.

Our shared Gujarati heritage, our DSV community and our Bhavnagar roots first drew me towards him. His achievements, Aaron Sir’ affectionate recollections and Madhukarbhai’s efforts gave me further reasons to remember him.

To the Indian chess fraternity, I offer this tribute with a request: if anyone possesses photographs, letters, tournament records or memories of Ramesh Dhirajlal Sheth, please help us preserve them. Information about his years in Germany, Canada and the United States would be especially valuable.

Ramesh Kaka, I never met you. Yet, through Aaron’s memories and Madhukarbhai’s efforts, I came to feel a connection with you. I wish there had been an opportunity to sit across a chessboard, listen to your stories and hear about Leipzig in your own words!

That opportunity is now beyond us. Remembering you is still within our hands.

With affection and respect, I offer this tribute to your memory—and remember Madhukarbhai with gratitude for helping keep it alive.

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Photo credit: Madras Local History group on Facebook. Indian chess delegation before its journey to the FIDE 14th Chess Olympiad, Leipzig, 1960. Original photographer unidentified.

Sources: Indian Chess History by IM Manuel Aaron and Vijay D. Pandit, pages 303–304; OlimpBase’s Leipzig 1960 results and game archive; FIDE’s biography of Tigran Petrosian; my conversations with Manuel Aaron and the late Shri Madhukarbhai Sheth.