CHESS VILLAGE (LIFE IN 64 SQUARES)
Here
it is war all day. Kings, queens, knights and soldiers jump and joust to cries
of checkmate.The people of Marottichal, a sleepy village near here, eat,
breathe and live chess. When they are not playing, they animatedly discuss
their last game threadbare.The story of these chess-crazy people is soon
becoming a movie. August Club , directed by K.B. Venu, is
inspired by the village and its chess players. Ananthapadmanabhan, son of the
legendary film-maker Padmarajan, has written the script for the movie.Thilakan,
Rima Kallingal, Murali Gopi, Mala Aravindan, KPAC Lalitha and Sukumari act in
it, along with the chess-crazy villagers.It all began when one man named C.
Unnikrishnan decided to teach almost everybody in his village how to play the
game.
He was inspired by a report he read in a newspaper about the American legend Bobby
Fischer, who became the youngest Grandmaster when he was just short of 16.Soon,
Mr. Unnikrishnan, then a 10th standard student, started attending chess
coaching classes by “Narayanan Master” at Thalore, his neighbouring village.
Equipped with expertise, he went on a mission to popularise the game in his
village.“I started giving free coaching classes in my house. I wanted everybody
in my village to learn the game. I have been training young and old chess
aspirants for the past 40 years,” he says.Mr. Unnikrishnan was so good a
teacher that it did not take long for the village to not just grasp the nuances
but also develop an obsession for the game.“Chess is my passion. Once I start
playing, I forget everything. It’s kind of an addiction,” he says.
Mr.
Unnikrishnan runs a restaurant and the people are free to gather there anytime
and play chess. Also, in a makeshift shed built outside his house, participants
ranging from eight-year-old Aljo to 75-year-old “Dasettan” are seen bent over
the chessboard furiously making their moves.“The players who trained here have
won many tournaments. I have trained more than 600 people,” Mr. Unnikrishnan
says.
Prof.
John Kurakar
No comments:
Post a Comment