Keren Matriculation School, Chekkanurani, recently saw 32 children don black and white outfits to simulate a live chess game, on a 2,500 square feet board . The school was down with chess fever throughout the day, with simultaneous chess displays and a chess exhibition shedding light on the origins of chess and historical plays, all with the aim of getting students excited about the sport.
The school enrols over 4,500 students, many of whom attend from one of the 100 surrounding villages. Prabaharan, the principal of Keren Matriculation, wants these students to be aware of chess and next week’s Chess Olympiad set to be held in Mamallapuram, with leading chess players from around the world. “Chess is a good thinking game,” he says, adding, “ [In every] nook and corner of India, everyone is holding a bat and a ball, cricket is that famous. I think chess should also go to that level.”
The event also saw the participation of Madurai-based Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy, International Master BT Murali Krishnan, and Commonwealth gold medallist M Rajadarshini in simultaneous chess matches against the students.
The live chess demonstration involved children between the ages of 13 to 18, who were chosen by school staff from a host of volunteers. The 32 children, chosen based on the 16 chess pieces on either side, were told to move by two guest chess enthusiasts invited by the school, Ebenezer Joseph and Dr Donald James Moir.
Ebenezer Joseph, India’s first FIDE Trainer (FIDE is The International Chess Federation) and founder of Emmanuel Chess Centre, looks to sensitise Madurai to chess. “This is a celebration of the 44th Chess Olympiad. There are many villages around and I have been working here with these kids. Some of these kids started playing chess years ago,” he says. “This is to popularise chess at a grassroots level.”
This live demo looked to pit the old versus the new, by having Dr Donald represent the English (The first FIDE Chess Olympiad was held in 1927 in London) and Ebenezer representing the contemporary Olympiad.
“I thought it was an exciting event,” recounts Dr. Donald, a retired British physician with a love for Tamil Nadu and its chess culture. He adds, “It was so nicely supported by the Madurai grandmasters. It’s made real excitement in the school. I do think they (children) get so much from participating in intellectual games like chess and learning how to win and learning how to lose. I think it’s very important for children.”
