A  LOOK  AT  THE  CHESS REVOLUTION IN  INDIA, THE  BIRTH PLACE  OF  CHESS/ CHATHURANGA!!!!

 

Well,  Chess  (the original name, Chathuranga  in Sanskrit)  was  born in India  and was  taken  by the  Arabs  to the other  parts of the world.  Chess  was  played in India  with local  rules ... the  game  was  patronized   by the  Nawabs  and other  north indian rulers.  Sultan Khan  was the  first world  beater to  emerge  fromIndia  (  he  was  patronized  by Nawab  Sir.Omer Hayat Khan )  Sultan Khan  went  to England  and won against  many  great  players  including the former  world champ,  Capablanca .. later  he had  to come  back and  settled in  pakistan.

the  first  Indian  national chess ch.,  held  in the  1950s  and was  won by  R.B.Sapre  (of Maharashtra) and  by Darba Venkayyah (of the then  Madras Province).  Later, Venkayyah  stopped playing  chess but  Sapre  continued to  play  and  lead  a  chess life in total, as a  coach, organizer and writer.

Manuel  Aaron of  Tamil Nadu   has won the  National  championship  for a  record  nine  times .. he  was the  first IM of India .. he  has played  against the legendary  Bobby Fisher  in the  Stolkhom  Interzonal  and has won against Max Euwe,  Portisch, Uhlmann  etc.,  V.Ravikumar  from  Madras (now Chennai) won the  Asian  Juniorin 1978  and  became the IInd  IM of  India. Later, Ravisekar, Parameswaran (both fromTN),  Pravin Thipsay (Maharashtra), Barua (Bengal)became  IMs.

Vishy  Anand  emerged  as a   wonderkid  who played  electrifying  chess  in the eighties ... he won  the national championshp  in 1986 and 87.  Became  World  Junior champion in 1988  and became  a  GM after  achieving norms  in the Bhilwara  GM Tmt.,  at  New Delhim  and  Sakthi Sugars GM Tmt.,at Coimbatore.   he  continued  (continues to this day!!) sensational performance  led him to qualify in the  candidate  tournament  at Manila ;  he  beat  Alexi Dreev  in a   match at Chennai ; later, lost a  narrowly fought  match   against  Karpov .  in the next  cycle, he qualified  to meet Karpov  in the  final ... he  narrowly lost the match.  In the Professional Chess Association-organized World  Chess Ch.,  he lost to  Kasparov  in the final, played in the New York city.

in 2000, finally,   he beat Alexi  Shirov  and  won the WCC title. Later he remained  WCC four more times by winning a  strong  tournament, by beating  Kramnik,  Topalov  and  Gelfand.  Finally he  lost to Magnus Carlsen.  In the  next  candidates, he  qualified  again, played  Carlsen and  lost  again.Anand has  written  quite  a  few  chess books  on openings, on his games ;  he  gives  commentaries during great  tournaments ;  he  is  the present  Vice President of  FIDE.He  was the first  receipient  of  Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna  award ;  has won the chess oscar, many times  and  has  been awarded with Padma Vibushan  award  by the Govt. of   India.

He  keeps  mentoring  the  great, young  Indian Grandmasters like  Gukesh, Praggnanandha  and others.

In the Past, Bhilwara  Textiles, Sakthi Sugars/group (even now!) used to organize  annual GM Tournaments.  the  annual Guruswamy naidu  chess tournament  at the famous Murugan  pilgrimae centre of Palani,Tamil nadu  (not conducted  now)  was a  major, colourful  tournament....Alekhine chess club, Kolkatta  has   organized  regular GM tmts.,

Now Parswanath  GM tmt.,  at  Delhi  has  emerged  an important  tmt., in the annual Indian Chess Calendar. the Chennai Open GM  Tmt.,  is  yet  another  important  tmt.,  in the Internatl., chess circuit. Now for the past  few years,  THE ATHENS OF THE EAST  GM TMT., in the  historic pilgrimage town of  Madurai, Tamil Nadu  is fast becoming popular.

now  India  has  close to hundred  GMs  and countless IMs  and plenty of  tournaments  at various levels  and durations.Even Corporates  have their own chess  tmts.,

Gukesh,  Praggnandha, Vaishali, Pranav,   are some of  the  latest chess sensations  to emerge from tamil nadu.   Gukesh  is  playing  for the  World Championship  against   Ding Liren of  China  in  Singapore  from today onwars,  a  matter of  great pride  for  Tamil nadu/India...

also, recently,  India  has  won both Men's and Women's  chess olympiad  held  at  Budapest, Hungary

of  which I have  written a poem in  a  separate  blog.

thanks to chess software like Chessbase, Sagar Shah's  ChessbaseIndia  which promotes chess in myriad  ways, Indian chess is on the surge....

In the past,  Russia /Soviet Union dominated  chess.  Now the world  witnesses an Indian chess invasion at all corners of the world.