From its roaring metropolises to its bucolic villages, India has an enthusiasm for chess on par with professional basketball in the US. After 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest world chess champion ever in 2024, chess has become a golden ticket for young players.
But beyond elite academies, clubs around the country are using chess as a pathway to educational advancement and a route out of poverty. Research found that Indian schoolchildren who received chess training significantly improved their academic performance in math and science.
“After 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest world chess champion ever in 2024, chess has become a golden ticket for young players.”
India now has about 90 grandmasters (up from 5 in 2000) and over 30,000 rated players. A three-year-old recently became the youngest player in history to earn an official rating.
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