A peek into Kashmir’s chess scenario

In a roomamidst pin drop silence, players keenly look at the chess board. The tension grips the room as a player aged 8 calls for the check. The eyes of the audience, coaches are glued to the board and the game goes on towards the win of the best player.
In Kashmir, Chess has risen in popularity from the past few years with more and more children and youngsters taking interest in the game.
The scenes of chess going on in the valley are not new but have been continuing for decades.
With the efforts of like minded people, All J&K Chess Association was formed which was formerly J&K State Chess Association established in the year 1980 and got affiliated with the All India Chess Federation in 1985.
Ashiq Ahmad Kolu, a veteran chess player said that the game was earlier popular among the people of Srinagar only but now it’s in every corner of the state with the support of Sports Council.
He said, “With time many private chess academies were opened by the chess enthusiasts. The association has been organizing activities related to the promotion of chess and imparting awareness about the game. The association has been awarded with many awards including two times state award.”
Calling the game a tale as old as time, he said that the veteran chess players of Kashmir have lit the chess sky and now the chess keeps getting younger and younger with the participation from the young lot.
Faisal Farooq, a chess player and Joint secretary of the Association has played chess from 8-12 years of age and during the time, he has played 13 national and 2 internationals championship (Commonwealth and Asian championship). It was during the year 1998, when he was 10 years old, he got featured in the sports magazine, The Sports Star.
Mentored by his father, who was also a chess player, currently he holds the state rank 3 and has recently played a national where he performed well.
He said that the game has a lot of scope to offer and the valley has talented players. Talking about the tit-bits of the game, he said that the opening and the endgame is very crucial for any player.
“The game is like a study. One has to consult books to master the game,” he said, adding “Chess has a tendency to deviate you from any other thing. It helps in the development of brains, mind sharpening, mind building and puzzle solving which is a need for every kid. Like the video games help in the coordination between the minds and hands, similarly chess stabilizes the coordination. It gives you a vision about your next move and it gives you a concept of pre-planning.”
To produce better players for the game, he said that the children of age 6 should be introduced to this game. The game goes with the motto as early as better. He said that the number of players in chess is increasing day by day but at the same time, he feels it is not receiving the support as enjoyed by the other sports and games.
“If the game had received good hype and promotion like any other games, I wouldn’t have taken a break and could have done even better. The unavailability of coaches has always been an issue. No recruitment of coaches or instructors is taking place. The private schools are also not showing any interest in chess despite being an important game for the development of the child,” he said.
Further, the players often find themselves struggling with the sponsorships from the government and private side. “If we want high standard tournaments, financial assistance is a must. National tournaments seem tough because we don’t get the exposure here,” he said.
Another veteran player, Khalid Amin who has been in the game from the past 20 years calls it a “Royal Game”. Although he started the game when he was 17 years old, his passion made him the first one to get an international rating from the valley.
Currently aged 41, he is still the number one in the state, but he is not happy about it. “No one else came forward and replaced me from my position. That means the game is being overlooked and kids are not being given a platform,” he said.
Believing that with the help of the internet, the game has taken a good shape and is accessible to the wide population.
His dream is to open a school of chess where he wants to target the kids of age 5-6 who are passionate and have potential for the game.
To add a new chapter in the history of chess in the valley, they have recently kickstarted a Kashmir Chess Club for the development of the game. “Recently Kashmir Open International Rating Tournament was organized by it. We are going to organize more events. One event- Chess For All will be held in Srinagar in February which will be an international rated tournament. One BLITZ tournament will also be held in Jammu,” he said.
The motive behind the club is to give exposure to the kids with high standard tournaments so that their talent is exposed and further polished.
He said, “In this game, if you are talented, no boundaries can stop you from becoming successful. A player can get into the international rating tournaments if they are talented enough. Girls can do better in the game. Most of the girls are already good at studies and the game is all about study. They can go far with this until exposure and good environment is given to them,” he said.
Arshid Ahmad, a senior player and presently the General Secretary of the association is the only certified senior National Arbiter from Kashmir. He has introduced a Computerized Pairing System in Kashmir in order to upgrade the game.
“In all these years, I felt that we lacked coaching. I along with other players have conducted chess tourneys at different public venues in order to grab the attention of the chess lovers. The sports council has always helped us in conducting various tournaments at national and international level for the promotion of chess but a permanent chess coach can change the whole game,” he said.
Bismah Afshan, who is pursuing master’s in physical education, grew up watching her family members playing chess and imbibed the know-how of the game. “I started playing professionally in 2013 when I came across a news story about a tournament held in an indoor stadium, Srinagar. I went there and started playing and got the first position in 1st tournament,” she said.
On winning a tournament, she was given a book by the veteran chess player, Farooq Ahmad.
“I read that book and came to know more about the game. Then I started playing nationals and an international championship as well. My scoring has always been good and the association has been very supportive to me,” she said.
She has been witnessing a surge in the number of females in the game. “My cousins have been playing too. One of my cousins who is 5 years old won against an international champion who was older than her. This game makes you smart. It requires discipline and the game of chess is not only limited to making a move, it’s preplanning your game before your opponent makes a move,” she said.
Belonging to district Budgam of Kashmir, she is planning to open her own academy.
“This game has made me confident. I would want to play it and encourage everyone to go for the game and themselves to thrive. It doesn’t see your physical strength. Mental strength is all it takes,” she added.