Chess helps Tangra teen rebuild life after family tragedy
Times of India | 5 August 2026
KOLKATA: Chess has become a crucial part of the slow rehabilitation of the 15-year-old survivor of the Tangra family tragedy, helping him return to routine, school and confidence after months of trauma.
The teenager, who lost his mother, aunt and cousin in February and later survived a car crash that police said followed an attempt by his father and uncle to die by suicide, recently won a medal at a local chess event. For those caring for him, the achievement marked far more than success in a game.
In Feb 2025, the boy’s mother, aunt and young cousin were found murdered at the family’s Tangra residence. Police later said his father and uncle had confessed to killing the two women and the child before ramming their car into a Metro pillar. The boy was in the vehicle and survived.
“When I met him for the first time on April 2, 2025, at NRS Hospital’s orthopedic department, he was severely traumatised by what he had witnessed and experienced. Just before the car crashed into a metro pillar on EM Bypass, he understood that he would die as his uncle had opened the door moments before the impact. He miraculously survived but the trauma of all that he had seen and witnessed lingered on. He was in acute depression and barely ate or spoke to others for two months. His love for chess, combined with counselling and his adoption by his aunt’s parents helped him recover,” recounted Joydeep Banik of Bekind Boys Home in Kasba.
Counselling began soon after he was admitted to the home. Since injuries from the crash kept him away from outdoor sports, caregivers gave him a chess board, knowing he liked the game.
At times, the counsellor spoke to him while playing chess. Slowly, he began opening up and mixing with other children.When he started winning games easily at the boys’ home, Banik arranged for him to train at Haltu Chess Academy so he could play stronger opponents.
He recently won a chess competition at Acropolis Mall, where Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua handed him the medal.
“He was delighted to win and so were we,” said Ananya Chatterjee Chakraborti, the former chairperson of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights who helped him live with the people he wanted to. Child welfare authorities had initially struggled to find a family member willing to take him in. His maternal grandparents had died earlier.
The parents of his deceased aunt, whom he calls “Dadu” and “Dida”, first expressed helplessness because of age, ill health and grief, but later offered to foster him.“We used to visit our daughter’s Tangra home often. While we doted on our granddaughter, we were also very fond of him as he his maternal grandparents weren’t alive and he called us Dadu-Dida.
We are glad to have him. It has not only helped us get preoccupied after the terrible loss, it has more importantly, give him a home. We try to be more affectionate to him than we were to our granddaughter because he has no one else. And he showers us with love in return,” said the 78-year-old who lost his daughter and granddaughter in the tragedy.
Though the new grannies know his passion for chess, they want him to first complete his studies and become financially independent. “We are aged. Our days are numbered. All we want is to see him established in life. He can resume chess thereafter,” the Dadu said.
WBCPCR senior consultant Dola Dey Mitra says the home with grandparents has helped the teenager feel wanted and secure.Now in Class IX, after missing his Class VII annual exam and being admitted to Class VIII, he has scored 72% in his half-yearly exam.
“Those of us who know about his past do not discuss it with him. Our conversation revolves around the present and his future. He wants to do well in chess, study accountancy and become a CEO of a company,” recounted Banik.