TN makes chess compulsory in state’s schools

Zeenews Sports Bureau

Chennai: Giving a shot in the arm to sports other than cricket in India, the Tamil Nadu government has made the game of chess compulsory in schools. The initiative is similar to the ones employed in the erstwhile USSR. The programme will be launched next year and would aim specially at improvising the skills of students from "educationally backward" districts. The move has been praised by the chess fraternity but they have warned against any high expectations as such mass programmes may be useful to initiate children into the game, but are not known to throw up Grandmasters. "This year, five districts have been identified for the programme," said Muralimohan, secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. "We will help the schools by helping their coordinators learn chess and these coordinators will take it back to schools. It is a compulsory exercise," he said. However, chess would not be part of the formal curriculum.