Patna, December 19, 2008
World champion Vishwanathan Anand on Thursday said chess now needs to be taken to rural areas for tapping and nurturing the potential champions.
Speaking at the launch of NIIT MindChampion Academy, Anand said the chess had grown by leaps and bounds in India during the last 10 years, as more numbers of children were taking to the sport. “We have already captured the minds of urban area. Now we must move a step forward to capture minds of rural areas”, he remarked.
“The NIIT MindChampion Academy offers a tremendous opportunity to explore children's potential, as it is aimed at providing them with requisite guidance and facilities”, he said.
Talking about his next target he said he wanted to win the Linares chess championship to be held in February next year.
World champion Vishwanathan Anand on Thursday said chess now needs to be taken to rural areas for tapping and nurturing the potential champions.
Speaking at the launch of NIIT MindChampion Academy, Anand said the chess had grown by leaps and bounds in India during the last 10 years, as more numbers of children were taking to the sport. “We have already captured the minds of urban area. Now we must move a step forward to capture minds of rural areas”, he remarked.
“The NIIT MindChampion Academy offers a tremendous opportunity to explore children's potential, as it is aimed at providing them with requisite guidance and facilities”, he said.
Talking about his next target he said he wanted to win the Linares chess championship to be held in February next year.
Anand reminded his association with Bihar and said though it was his first visit to this state he had an old connection with the state as his father spent a brief stint of his student life here.
"My father studied at Jamalpur in Munger district and it is a great pleasure to be here in Patna," said the top Grandmaster of the world.
Replying to a question Anand said he did not believe cricket had overshadowed other sporting disciplines in the country. “I think government has been fair to all sports”, he said.
"The amount of media attention chess gets now-a-days is quite big compared to 10 years back," Anand said.
Earlier, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi launched NIIT's MindChampiom Academy in the state. NIIT MindChampion Academy is a joint initiative of NIIT, a leading Global Talent Development Corporation and World chess champion, Viswanathan Anand, to initiate children across India to the game of chess.
NIIT MindChampion Academy is being launched in 400 schools in the state where NIIT is offering the education services. The Academy has been successfully introduced in over 5000 schools across the country during the past 5 years, thus exposing students in the age group of 7-17 years to the world of Chess.
Marking the symbolic launch of the academy in the state, Modi and Anand made their first moves on the board. Anand handed over the MCA kits to the principals of some of the identified 400 Government Schools.
Speaking at the launch, Modi said, "It is encouraging to see NIIT comes forward to Introduce children to the world of chess through computer aided skills. I sincerely feel that initiatives like these will go a long way in enabling development of these young minds."
Lauding the role of Anand for uplift of chess in India, Modi said India had won seven world titles in the year 2008 and the credit should go to the chess maestro, who had popularised and revolutionised the game in the country.
Modi also announced that there would be a hall in the upcoming indoor stadium at Kankerbagh in Patna only for chess activities.
Dr. Anil Kumar, IT Minister also joined the Deputy Chief Minister in highlighting the importance of promoting IT in education at school level and initiating school children in the game of chess through technology. Alok V Chaturvedi, Secretary, IT and Naveen Kumar Commissioner, Finance were present among other senior dignitaries from the State.
Launched in 2002 with an objective of initiating students into the world of Chess, NIIT MindChampion Academy has today fostered nearly 6180 chess clubs with more than 1,75,000 students as its members in schools where NIIT offers computer education.
Students use computer-based tutorials, during and after school as a virtual playfield to hone their skills in the game of Chess. Apart from tutorials, promising Chess players get an opportunity to interact with NIIT MindChampion and World chess champion Viswanathan Anand, in person at regular intervals. Leveraging its inherent strength in technology, NIIT MindChampion Academy has created a virtual community of Chess enthusiasts in the country.
Photo Caption: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and World chess champion Viswanathan Anand inaugurating NIIT MindChampion Academy.
Middle: Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Viswanathan Anand playing a board during inaugural function.
Bottom: Girl students greet World chess champion Viswanathan Anand in Patna on Thursday.
Photos by Aftab Alam
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