Odisha Government collaborates with FIDE to promote chess, 100 chess centres to be opened in the state

by Himank Ghosh - 10/12/2023

Odisha has been making spectacular strides in growing chess recently. From the formation of their first fully government-funded chess academy Pro-Chess-Ta, to embarking on a project to open 100 chess centers around the state! The Deputy Chair of FIDE Management Board, Dana Reizniece-Ozola recently had a tour across India to promote women in chess and educational chess. On her journey, she also visited Odisha and met with the Chief Minister and Sports Authorities. Check out this article where Dana speaks about her experience in India, the plans for growth being formed, and what is next.

The growth of Chess in Odisha

Odisha is home to two Grandmasters and six International Masters. But these are all already established chess players - how do you grow chess at the grassroots level? The Odisha government came up with a fantastic idea of opening the Pro-Chess-Ta chess academy - a chess academy with world-class trainers and facilities, funded entirely by the State!

This entire chess academy is sponsored and supported by the Government of Odisha - Pro-Chess-Ta | Video: ChessBase India

Registrations going on for Pro-Chess-Ta! | Photo: Official Twitter

Day 1 itself witnessed a registration of 115 players!

Students and parents gathered together at the academy! | Photo: Official Twitter

Just a few days back, Bhubaneshwar hosted the 33rd PSPB Inter-Petroleum Unit Rapid Chess Championships. Along with many top players in the country, the two Indians who qualified to FIDE Candidates 2024 were also present here - Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi!

The two candidates pitted against each other in the Team championships! | Photo: Satyakam Swayangsu

The Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha celebrated the brilliance of chess with the players and also the top players of Odisha. The Sports Secretary, R Vineel Krishna felicitated Grandmasters Sasikiran, Koneru Humpy, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Abhijit Kunte, and others!

All the players gathered at the felicitation ceremony! | Photo: Sports Odisha Twitter

Winning 1 Gold and 1 Silver medal in the Asian Para Games 2023, one of India's finest visually impaired chess players Soundarya Pradhan, was felicitated by Odisha's chief minister Naveen Patnaik! He was presented with a huge cash award of Rs. 1 crore 50 Lakhs. | Photo: Sports Odisha Twitter

Top Indian players speak about the growth of Chess in Odisha!

FIDE Deputy Chair of the Management Board, Dana Reizniece-Ozola visited Odisha during her tour around India to promote women in chess and educational chess! She met the Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik. Along with Chairman of the FIDE Advisory Board Bharat Singh Chauhan, they discussed ways to grow chess in the state. We asked a few questions to Dana about her visit to Odisha and the overall tour in India!

A very important meeting for Chess in Odisha! Chairman of FIDE Advisory board Bharat Singh Chauhan, FIDE Deputy Chair of Management Board Dana Reizniece Ozola and CM of Odisha Naveen Patnaik | Photo: Vineel Krishna

How was the experience of meeting Odisha's Chief Minister and his Team? What were the decisions taken during in this meeting with the Odisha Government?

Dana Reizniece-Ozola (DRO): It was a great honor to meet Odisha’s Chief Minister and Mr.Vineel Krishna, Secretary of Sports and Youth Services, but even more so – a great pleasure when our meeting came with the announcement of Odisha developing a chess academy, opening 100 chess centers and equipping 16,000 school classes with technologies that would allow introducing chess in education.

One can see that sports has been highly valued in Odisha, with state-of-the-art infrastructure being developed (I visited their newly built Athletics Hall and the Hockey Stadium) and extensive training programs being supported. Chess will now be reinforced in Odisha, allowing to prepare professional athletes, but also to use chess as a modern educational tool.

Discussions going on about the growth of chess in Odisha! | Photo: Vineel Krishna

How did you decide to travel to India, and how did this meeting come about?

DRO: AICF is eager to not only support professional chess but also to facilitate educational chess development and empower women chess players. This tour was organized by the All India Chess Federation, and a saturated program was planned to cover several cities (New Delhi, Agra, Udaipur, Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru) and engage in official meetings (including Minister of Sports of India, Secretary of Sports of India, Chief Minister of Odisha), motivational presentations, simultaneous games exhibitions, press conferences, and other activities.

Read all about the work Dana did during her visit to India in this FIDE Blog.

How will FIDE support this project in Odisha? How do you see this project evolving?

DRO: The biggest challenge to introduce chess in education is the availability of teachers. Here FIDE will contribute with our Preparation of Teachers course and Preparation of Lecturers (the ones who can train the teachers afterwards).

The beginning of a beautiful collaboration! | Photo: Dana Reizniece-Ozola

You have traveled extensively across the world, where else do you see a similar kind of model that the Odisha Government is trying to adopt?

DRO: Every country has its local context and specifics, but China, of course, is one of the countries where you would also see a comprehensive approach to chess talent development.

Ding Liren and Ju Wenjun from the 2018 chess Olympiad. Now both of them are World Champions - a perfect example of China's dominance in chess!

A lot of people are talking about India becoming a superpower in chess. What according to you are the steps that need to be taken by the country to ensure that it reaches its potential?

DRO: The latest news of another great Indian talent Vaishali qualifying for the FIDE Candidates Tournament alongside her brother Praggnanandhaa demonstrates that India is a great chess talent force.

National team training, regular tournaments (more FIDE events are coming to India as well!), evening out the women's tournament prizes with men’s sections, promoting chess in schools, and facilitating girls' chess will give further results. AICF tries to spread chess across the country at all levels. We very well understand that quantity is not the same as quality, but you would need the critical mass to spot and nurture the talent.

India is now the no.2 nation in the FIDE Rating list with an average top 10 rating of 2703! | Photo: FIDE Ratings website

The federation is also smart in using the impact of idols like Vishy Anand and building on the huge positive impact and inertia the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad created!

The Chennai Chess Olympiad 2022 was truly a milestone moment for Indian Chess! A glimpse of the colorful opening ceremony.

Also, people like yourself who promote chess in an attractive and passionate way make a difference! This is something that cannot be bought by money or executed by orders. Thank you!

Thank you for the kind words, Dana! Here's a wonderful selfie taken by her with chess players and parents in India.

More pictures from Dana's trip to India:

In Bhubaneswar, the Deputy Chair of FIDE Management Board visited the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology.

Bharat Singh Chauhan, Dana Reizniece Ozola, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and AICF President Dr. Sanjay Kapoor

Dana meeting with the 7 women responsible for BUDCA (Bangalore Urban District Chess Association)

BUDCA will be organizing the Bangalore GM 2024 from 18th to 26th of January 2024. It promises to be one of the finest GM tournaments to be held in the country.

During her visit to Udaipur-Lakecity, Dana Reizniece-Ozola participated in an event organized at St. Anthony School and hosted by Chess In Lakecity's Secretary, Vikas Sahu, where she interacted with young chess enthusiasts.

Dana's simul at Chess in Lakecity, Udaipur

We have always been in awe of how Dana manages to achieve so many things in the world of chess. And whenever you meet her, you will see her with a smile on her face, meeting the challenges with all of her presence. She has been the former Finance Minister of Latvia and now with her vision and diligence is making a big impact in the world of chess. In 2021 at the World Championship Match in Dubai between Carlsen and Nepo, IM Sagar Shah got a chance to interview her. Get to know more about her from this interview. How strong is she as a chess player? Get to know that from the video below: