Gujarat looking to break records with Chess

World Champion Anand and Gujarat Chief Minister Modi joining forces

After his first world championship title in 2000, Viswanathan Anand nurtured a secret desire to make India the epicentre of chess. And, for the last 10 years, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was looking for a way to bring chess to the collective consciousness of Gujaratis. Now, both have joined hands and Gujarat is set to create the Guinness record of the largest number of people playing the game together at the same time.

El Zócalo, Mexico City's central square, created the record with 13,446 players in 2006. The Modi-Anand duo is looking to bring together 20,000 players on December 24 at Sardar Patel Stadium .

Anand will be guest of honour and play against 50 players, breaking his previous record of 45 players.

"I'm sure Gujarat will not only be successful in creating the record, but also be a role model for other states to popularise chess," Anand said. "Chess isn't just a game but an inexpensive and simple way of transforming life," said Modi. The government along with Sports Authority of Gujarat, Gujarat State Chess Association, NIIT and Anand have been working on this project for a while. Some 1,400 school teachers have got training and two lakh students provided chess kits.

Source: The Times of India