A campaign by Narendra Modi had brought 'Chess' to every school in Gujarat, 'Modi Archive' shared the photo

New Delhi, September 26 (IANS). Some old pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been shared on an account named 'Modi Archive'. In these pictures, PM Modi is seen playing chess with chess player Vishwanathan Anand. This picture is from the time when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

While sharing the photo, 'Modi Archive' has mentioned a statement by PM Modi. He wrote in the caption, “Chess is a game that can remove a hundred sorrows of life.”

He wrote, “Narendra Modi is known for his passion for playing chess, which he believes relieves stress and gives a new direction in life. In 2009, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he made chess a compulsory subject in schools in the Ahmedabad district. He then intended to implement this initiative across the state in the coming years. The result was that chess was included as a subject in high schools in Gujarat.”

Modi Archive further said, “He came up with this idea when he visited Azerbaijan during his first tenure in 2001. Baku city impressed him a lot because it was the place from where eight grandmasters including the legendary Garry Kasparov were associated. Narendra Modi saw firsthand how chess is embedded in the culture here. He found that the children of Baku were more intelligent than their peers in the former Soviet Union and the reason for their intelligence was that they were introduced to chess at a very young age.”

He said that Narendra Modi worked on popularizing chess in the whole of Gujarat and for this he also organized the Golden Chess Festival. In the year 2010, when he was the Chief Minister, more than 20,000 chess players came together on one platform. During this time, the players of Gujarat registered their name in the Guinness World Record, leaving Mexico behind.

Sharing the photo with chess champion Viswanathan Anand, 'Modi Archive' wrote, “Viswanathan Anand took part in this grand chess sports festival. He appreciated the efforts of the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi for popularizing the game of chess in Gujarat.”

He told that in the year 2012, the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda was celebrated. During this time, the then CM Modi also organized 'Swami Vivekananda Women's Chess Festival'. More than 3,500 women chess players of Gujarat participated in this tournament organized at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. This was a bold step by Modi and he said that chess is not a game of man but it is a game of every mind, every soul.

–IANS

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