Three years ago, K Priyanka, a school girl from Coimbatore in southern Tamil Nadu state had barely touched a chess piece and could only have dreamed of travelling hundreds of miles to a luxury hotel in the state capital, Chennai, to watch India's chess star Viswanathan Anand compete for the world championship.
Now Priyanka practices for six hours every day, in addition to her normal studies. And last week she was among the hundreds of children who travelled to Chennai to play in the many promotional junior chess events being held alongside the three-week-long, 12-match world chess championships between Anand and Norway's 22-year-old superstar Magnus Carlsen.
When a young Anand became a national hero by winning the world chess championship in 1987, he single-handedly transformed the game into much more than an obsession in India: for a new generation it's now a way of life. Chennai alone has some 25 chess clubs.
"I like chess because I can become famous by playing it," Priyanka said.
"I first played in school and won some some prizes, so I got interested in the world championship and just wanted to come here and play on the side.
"My favourite is Judit Polgár from Hungary. She's the only female player who can beat Anand." Full story...
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Now Priyanka practices for six hours every day, in addition to her normal studies. And last week she was among the hundreds of children who travelled to Chennai to play in the many promotional junior chess events being held alongside the three-week-long, 12-match world chess championships between Anand and Norway's 22-year-old superstar Magnus Carlsen.
When a young Anand became a national hero by winning the world chess championship in 1987, he single-handedly transformed the game into much more than an obsession in India: for a new generation it's now a way of life. Chennai alone has some 25 chess clubs.
"I like chess because I can become famous by playing it," Priyanka said.
"I first played in school and won some some prizes, so I got interested in the world championship and just wanted to come here and play on the side.
"My favourite is Judit Polgár from Hungary. She's the only female player who can beat Anand." Full story...
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