From Sissa to Anand
Chess in India: religion of chess starts up!
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Production details
| Genre: |
Chess at the highest level |
| Movie type: |
Epic World Championship |
| Theme: |
Gentlemen sometimes turning into tigers or wolves |
| Director: |
Josef Resch UEP |
| Main Cast: |
Winner of multiple Chess Oscar Anand, Aruna, former World Champion Kramnik
from Russia, German manager Carsten Hensel |
| Film director: |
Aruna & the “Fab Four” IGM Nielsen, Kasimdzhanov, Wojtaszek
and Ganguly |
| Screenwriters: |
Aruna & Vishy Anand |
| Run Time: |
eleven rounds and nearly fifteen centuries |
| Producer: |
Europe Echecs |
| Included as bonus: |
From the origins of Chess in India to Anand and nowadays with youngsters
Gupta, Harika, Negi and all young Indians covered with gold during world
Junior and Youth championships 2008. The legend of Sissa. Annotated games
by Anand and his second Nielsen + Negi. Exclusive interviews with Humpy
and Ashok Alexander. Appearances of IGM Harikrishna and Indian journalist
from Mumbai Manisha Mohite. |
| Cover photo |
ChessBase |
Interview Ashok Alexander – Extract
Ashok Alexander lives in New Delhi, India. He’s a chess amateur
with an Elo rating of 2236, and has known Vishy Anand since he was eleven years
old. Ashok is the Director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s
India AIDS Initiative since April 2003.
“I met him during the national championship I was playing in 1983.
He was a very small boy, and at that age it was clear he was a prodigy. But
I think no one in that time would have said he will end up with the title
of World Champion. There is something very interesting when a few years later,
I think he was fifteen, and he was playing in Hong Kong in the Asian championships.
I just said: “Vishy, what do you want to become in Chess?” And
he looked at me and said “World Champion!” That was very amazing
this response because India didn’t have a single grandmaster at that
time.”
Interview Humpy – Extract
World number two female player Koneru Humpy was born in the State of Tamil
Nadu, just like Anand…
“I work with the oil company ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation)
as Deputy Manager. I didn’t study for that, it’s only because
of chess I got this. In fact I was first under level but then I got promotions
and now I’m Deputy Manager. If I reach my goals in chess I will be promoted.
They support me when I play in international events like Wijk aan Zee. It
depends up on the conditions I get in the tournament. If I don’t get
conditions they pay my expenses. It’s a job so every month I get a salary.
It’s the top oil company in India. There are other chess players working
for the company. It’s a big team with Sasikiran (2694), Sandipan Chanda
(2579), Neelotpal Das (2477), Konguvel Ponnuswamy (2463), Lanka Ravi (2371)
and Koshy Varugeese (2284). I have to wear their logo whenever I play and
I have to play two petroleum sports meets each year: a team event and an individual
section.”
Note: we have been reminded by numerous Indian readers
that Humpy was born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, which is a neighbouring state
to Anand's Tamil Nadu.
Parimarjan Negi – Extract
Parimarjan is fifteen and, at the age of 13 years and seven months became
the second youngest grandmaster in history.
"Since Vishy Anand's ascent to the top, chess has been steadily gaining
popularity in India. Until just a few years ago, a medal or two in World Youths
was the best we could achieve. Now, though, that has changed, along with the
growing popularity of chess, there has also been considerable increase in
corporate support for young players in India. For instance I have been sponsored
by the TATA group for last few years. And with that now Indians are also getting
many more opportunities to come and play strong events in Europe. And I guess
with a billion people, there's got to be talent somewhere."
Sissa, the purported inventor of chess
According to a popular myth chess was invented by a Brahmin called Sissa, who
made up the game in order to teach his king that he could not rule without the
help of his subjects. The king asked Sissa what reward he wanted for such a
fine game, and he replied: one grain of rice for the first square of the board,
two for the second, four for the third, eight for the fourth, and so on to the
64th square. That number turns out to be 18,445,744,073,709,551,615 grains,
which in normal language is 18 billion billion grains, weighing around 450 billion
tons – more than the current world production (400 million tons per year)
for over 1000 years.
The first treatise of chess with occidental rules titled “Essays on Chess”
was published in India two centuries ago by Trevangadacharya Shastree –
in Mumbai 1814.
Addendum
Prof. Nagesh Havanur of Mumbai, India wrote us: "The author of the treatise
was Thiruvenkatacharya Shatri, a scholar from Tirupati, South India.
He was asked to write this book by his royal patrons, Peshwas of Pune. The book
describes briefly several variants of chess: Hindustani (Indian), Vilayati (Western
or the present international system), Dakshinatya (South Indian) and even the
Chinese system. It was translated into English and published with the title
Essays on Chess by M.D.Cruz. In the days of the Raj the British just could not
get the Indian names right. Hence, the distortion of the author's name. The
title loosely translated, would read : A collection of chess gems. In fact it
is a collection of chess problems with several mating tasks. More information
on this subject can be gleaned from V.D.Pandit, an Indian chess historian based
in Mumbai. He wrote two articles in Chess Mate, the Indian chess magazine way
back in 1985.
In Chess Notes
No. 4715 Prof. Havanur adds:
The name of the author should be Thiruvenkatacharya Shastri. 'Trevangadacharya'
is an improbable name, as it has no etymology to speak of. In India the custom
is to name children after gods. Thiruvenkatesha, or Shri Venkatesha, is the
incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It appears that the author was a Tamil Brahmin.
Hence, the Tamil prefix Thiru, which forms part of his name. It is customary
to address Brahmins, or members of the priestly class, with respect, so they
are called acharyas in the South. A Shastri (not Shastree) is a scholar who
has mastered holy books, i.e. shastras. The title of the Sanskrit book should
be Vilasa Manimanjari. The word Vilasa indicates pleasure or enjoyment. Manimanjari
means a collection of precious stones, such as pearls or gems. Roughly translated,
the title is "collection of chess gems for pleasure"
