“2022 has been an extraordinary year for Indian Chess, as the country has 77 Grandmasters, a lot of whom are from Chennai” said Indian Chess Legend Vishwanathan Anand. To earn the Grandmaster title, one has to secure three Grandmaster norms and surpass 2500 ELO points marks. Anand recalled how India hosted 1700 top players from across 185 nations, as part of the 44th FIDE International Chess Olympiad held in Chennai, earlier this year. Anand was speaking at an event organized by the Tamil Nadu Government, where it was announced that corporates and individual donors could adopt and maintain Government-run schools, as part of the “Namma School”(Our School) initiative.
As the brand ambassador for the cause, Anand said that building confidence among school students requires enormous investment of providing education, exposure, nutritious meals, sports activities, infrastructure etc. He said that the Government alone cannot develop schools on its own and urged alumni of Government schools and global diaspora to join hands and make a difference. “As in Chess, let our youth excel in every walk of life” Anand said from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India’s Chess capital.
According to the Tamil Nadu Government, donors and companies willing to donate to Government schools can access a state-wide database that covers nearly 38,000 schools. Donors can either adopt the entire school or take care of specific needs such as computers, infrastructure, furniture etc, as per the requirements of the school, highlighted in the database. They said that the before and after pictures of the work carried out with donor funds would also be updated on the ‘Namma School’ portal.
On the occasion of the launch of this initiative, leading corporates and individuals from Tamil Nadu donated more than Rs.50cr or $6.04million. The initiative was launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and senior Government officials.
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