India (and its kids) are out to conquer the world of chess

India is eager to move kids into chess masters. Above: Trainer Selvabharathy — he has conscionable 1 sanction — conducts a people astatine nan Madras School of Chess successful Chennai, utilizing nan online level Lichess.org arsenic a school tool. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

CHENNAI, India – On a balmy greeting past autumn successful nan coastal Indian metropolis of Chennai, dozens of fans perched connected their seats arsenic they watched an elite-level tourney unfold. Some shook their legs nervously, others gave decease glares to folks pinch nan misfortune of sitting connected creaky chairs.

On stage, immoderate of nan world's champion players were gathered for nan yearly  Chennai Grand Masters. After a thrilling tiebreaker, 25-year-old Indian prodigy Aravindh Chithambaram prevailed. The assemblage collapsed into applause. Dozens rushed to nan stage. Organizers formed a quality concatenation to let players to time off without being mobbed.

This level of attraction is wild, says nan world's 11th-ranked chess player, Levon Aronian, who was nan runner-up. Even he, an Armenian-American, is stopped connected nan streets here. "I tin understand that happening successful a state for illustration Armenia pinch a organization of 3 million," Aronian says successful quiet admiration. "But for that to hap successful India, I deliberation that speaks to nan fame of nan game."

Ten-year-old Keashaanth, pinch a notebook and chessboard successful beforehand of him, follows on arsenic his coach Selvabharathy leads a people astatine nan Madras School of Chess successful Chenna. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

Chess has seen a worldwide resurgence since nan pandemic-induced lockdown. Netflix's smash-hit chess play The Queen's Gambit came retired nan twelvemonth nan pandemic started, and pinch much leisure time, group began playing connected streaming platforms for illustration chess.com and connected YouTube. India has been among nan biggest beneficiaries of nan boom.

The state has 85 grandmasters — an elite group of chess players — and immoderate of nan youngest top-rankers successful nan world. Last year, some of its men's and women's teams swept nan Chess Olympiad — nan Olympics of chess — held successful Budapest, Hungary. At nan World Chess Championship successful Singapore, held successful December, Indian nationalist Gukesh Dommaraju became nan youngest-ever world champion astatine property 18.

This is simply a singular shift. After decades of Russian and European chess dominance, nan spotlight is connected India, nan apt birthplace of nan ancient game. Many historians believe that modern chess originated from chaturanga, an ancient Indian committee crippled that dispersed to nan world via traders, pilgrims and conquerors.

Home of champs

Within India, it's nan confederate authorities of Tamil Nadu, and its coastal superior Chennai, that has emerged arsenic nan epicenter of chess. A 3rd of each Indian grandmasters are calved successful Tamil Nadu. Both of India's world champions, Viswanathan Anand, a five-time winner, and Gukesh Dommaraju, nan existent reigning champion, are from Chennai.

A painted image of Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna pinch his student, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, displayed astatine nan Madras School of Chess successful Chennai Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

Chennai is nan "factory of Indian chess," says Venkat Saravanan, a chess trainer who often writes astir nan crippled for nationalist newspapers.

He says nan city's excellence is created by a strategy of "teaching from nan grassroots." Some schools assistance promising chess players holidays to train and travel. Local businesses salary their expenses. Then there's Chennai's parents.

Typically, Indian parents don't promote their kids to earnestly prosecute sports. "In India, we person this basal belief among parents that our measurement to happiness and prosperity is done academics," says Saravanan. "Chess successful immoderate respects resembles academics."

It's why chess clubs person mushroomed crossed nan city, galore of them tally by erstwhile grandmasters.

Nafeez Hussain, whose kid studies pinch chess trainer Venkatesan Enumalai, sits successful nan waiting area of nan Sathuranga Chanakyan Chess Club successful Chennai. Family members sometimes walk hours location while their children study nan intricacies of nan ancient game. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

Training nan adjacent chess generation

At nan Madras Chess Academy, children trickle successful aft school. They beryllium successful a windowless room, surrounded by portraits of chess legends, including world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, erstwhile a student here.

Many of these twelve aliases truthful kids walk their weekends sparring astatine chess tournaments crossed Chennai. If they execute well, trainers for illustration Selvabharathy — he only has 1 sanction — invites them to guidelines earlier nan class, and orders nan different kids to clap, arsenic he did connected a caller day.

At nan Madras schoolhouse of chess successful Chennai, 9-year-old Srihari Krishna (left) and 6-year-old Sriharika (right), some beginners, bony up connected their chess. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

"That's what I mean: 100% honesty and dedication toward chess," says Selvabharathy, pointing to nan pint-sized boy opinionated awkwardly successful beforehand of nan different children. "Don't say, 'Sir, I don't person time.' Everyone has time."

Chess coach Vishnu Prasanna started this academy 2 years ago. He says nan time earlier NPR visited, 1 genitor walked successful pinch their 3 ½-year-old kid to train. Another parent, Suresh Dasarathan, proudly shared his 6-year-old son's regular routine: Wake up astatine 7, an hr of chess practice, school, past an hr of chess coaching astatine nan club, past homework and bedtime astatine 9 p.m.

Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna successful his agency astatine nan Madras School of Chess, his academy successful Chennai. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

"If he's bully astatine chess," Dasarathan says, he'll support his boy each nan measurement to world games. "That is simply a dream. My dream."

Parents often play a important domiciled successful nan occurrence of young prodigies. Gukesh's begetter Rajinikanth often put his day-job arsenic a surgeon on clasp to double up arsenic a de facto head of his son. The mother of chess' prima siblings Praggnananda and Vaishali Rameshbabu often travels pinch them pinch Indian spices and cookware truthful her kids tin eat home-cooked meals of atom and sambar soup.

Six-year-old Sriharika, a beginner, studies chess mentation while different students play matches pursuing their classes astatine nan Madras schoolhouse of chess successful Chennai Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

But 1 6-year-old girl, Rivina, says immoderate parents astatine chess tournaments besides get overbearing. "They will say, 'I will springiness you meal only if you triumph this game.' Some kids will conscionable outcry if they don't win," she says.

India's first world champ and his 'kids'

The Soviet Union dominated nan chess world for astir of nan 20th century. In 1972, American maverick Bobby Fischer first breached nan frontier by winning nan world title astatine nan tallness of nan Cold War. Other countries produced chess stars. In 1995, India sewage its first world champion successful Chennai-born Viswanathan Anand. Today, his successors successful India are often called "Vishy's kids."

Now 55, Anand is still among nan world's apical 10 players. In his heyday, he says, chess was a hobby to beryllium tolerated, thing parents discouraged truthful you could spell "back to your studies, because you request a existent job."

Anand thinks nan civilization surrounding chess has changed because now, it's thing you tin make a surviving from. That's cardinal successful a state wherever good-paying jobs are scarce.

The exterior of Vishnu Prasanna's Madras School Of Chess. Viraj Nayer for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayer for NPR

The Indian authorities often gives high-ranking players a occupation successful nan nationalist assemblage — a dream opportunity for galore because of nan occupation information and perks: monthly pay, lodging allowance, pension, security and paid time off they tin usage to practice. High-ranking players tin triumph prize money successful a recently launched world Chess League. Many besides activity arsenic chess coaches.

Player and coach Srinath Narayanan says, specified opportunities of forging a profession successful chess is why Indian parents often thrust their kids truthful hard.

"In India, location is simply a monolithic proviso of group and very constricted seats disposable for excellence. And thing for illustration athletics is besides seen arsenic a measurement to jump nan queue."

But immoderate chess watchers opportunity there's a awesome obstacle to India becoming nan world's unchallenged chess power: nan English language. Most chess books, package and classes are successful English. The government's 2011 organization census recovered that a small much than 10% of Indians fluently speak nan language. Most English-speakers successful India are from nan country's country's mediate and precocious classes.

Enter YouTube

One man wants to move beyond that.

Two years ago, Venkatesan Enumalai founded the Tamil Chess Channel connected YouTube. It teaches nan basics of chess successful Tamil, a connection spoken by immoderate 80 cardinal Indians, concentrated successful nan confederate authorities of Tamil Nadu. The transmission has much than 80,000 followers and millions of views, including among Tamil-speakers successful Sri Lanka and nan United States. One of his students there, he says, became a authorities champion successful Illinois recently.

Venkatesan Enumalai instructs his students astatine nan Sathuranga Chanakyan Chess Club successful Chennai. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption

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Viraj Nayar for NPR

Buoyed by specified occurrence stories, Enumalai discontinue his time occupation pinch nan income squad of a pharma institution and started a chess nine successful Chennai, offering coaching astatine a small complete $10 a period truthful moreover poorer children tin spend it. He says he intends to recreation and behaviour chess boot-camps for students successful nan agrarian parts.

As nan world's astir populous country, India has nan numbers connected its side. Enumalai says it conscionable needs a nudge to go a chess powerhouse. "If we tin nurture truthful galore group astatine nan bottommost level, possibly we will beryllium capable to go a number 1 nation."