Chess icons play computer for publicity: Ex-C'wealth champ

Varanasi, Oct 3 (UNI) International master and former Commonwealth Champion Atanu Lahiri today said global chess icons such as Gary Kasparov play against computers for ''publicity'' and not for promoting the game.

In 1999, Lahiri became the first ever untitled player to win Commonwealth Chess Championship in Bikaner (Rajasthan).

Interacting with newspersons here, he said big ticket clash between Kasparov and chess playing computers like 'Deep Blue' were aimed at publicity, least of all promoting the game.

Fresh from participation at National 'B' Chess Tourney at Karnavati Club in Ahmedabad, the International master was here to inaugurate the CBSE National Chess Championship.

He was also against any idea of making chess prodigies in schools play computers as such experiments will have a negative impact on the creativity of promising players.

The seasoned chess player, foreseeing Indian and Chinese players ruling the global chess board in the next five years, said if the chess playing set up in erstwhile Soviet Union countries is emulated by the Indian chess governing body, ''our players could become world leaders much before.'' The ex-USSR nations especially Ukraine and Russia still have specialised chess clubs in all cities managed by municipal corporations, where seasoned players compete with fledgling chess talent. But only few cities in the country and that too in East and South India, have similar clubs, he lamented.

''Even our seasoned chess players shy away from guiding and playing upcoming players, at school level, within the pretext of preoccupation with national and international chess circuit.

Established players in the country needed to replicate Chess legend V Anand, who has off and on ducked public spotlight to guide and play youngsters in schools,'' Lahiri added.

About future tourneys, Lahiri said he had avoided active cerebral participation on chess boards in the last few years, owing to his committment to develop the game in unheralded pockets.

Lahiri said he is concentrating at duplicating 1999 Commonwealth Championship feat at the next edition of the tourney in Mumbai next month. Besides, he is also training hard for competing in European Circuit to improve his FIDE rating which stood at 2315 points.

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