What makes humans different from other living beings is our drive and desire to dream. Some dream of having a meal to survive while others dream of career advancement. Some dream of walking on their own feet while others dream of being able to rest. Some dream of being loved while others dream of personal space. Our community thrives on millions of dreams seen and lived every day and the one common thread among them is the desire to make life better than it was yesterday. One such dream of ChessBase India is ‘Advancing Chess in India’. But what if we could advance India through chess?
Chess has the power to change lives | Photo: Stev Bonhage
As the country celebrated its 78th Independence Day (on 15th August) with ‘har ghar tiranga’, which means proudly raising our flag in every home, we are launching a powerful and potentially life-changing campaign called ‘The Gift of Chess’ for India! A campaign that dreams of building a chess culture in every home! With this campaign, we aim to distribute 30,000 chess sets across the country and try to reach as many remote communities, players and families as possible. In this article, we take you along the journey of this campaign and show you how you can reap its benefits if you are a chess enthusiast/player/educator yourself 🙂
What is the gift of chess?
The Gift of Chess is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization that changes lives through the universal language of chess. It was founded by Russell Makofsky, Tyrone Davis III, and Ryan Rodrigues at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their goal is to donate 1 million chess sets worldwide by 2030. The Gift of Chess aims to spread the universal language of chess and create opportunities and connections by providing access to a physical chess set, educational chess technology, and engagement with a supportive chess community. Their three main global initiatives are: educational outreach, prison outreach, and refugee outreach, using a chess board as a tool to transform the lives of schoolchildren, prisoners, and refugee communities.
Russell Makofsky (center) at the Gift of Chess Walk in New York, where donations were collected for the program | Photo: Jamaal Dozier
The youngest GM in chess history and one of the greatest talents in the world – GM Abhimanyu Mishra is one of the brand ambassadors of the “Gift of Chess” program!
Chess as a tool for social reform
Chess has the inherent qualities of making us focus, analyse our mistakes, improve our strategy, be concentrated and make better decisions. But more than that, the inclusive nature of the sport has made chess a tool to empower communities. One such beautiful story is that of Marottichal, a village in Kerala, where the game of chess acted as a saviour in curbing alcohol consumption and changed the fate of nearly 1500 families in the village.
The Chess Village in India – Marottichal in Kerala
FIDE’s Chess For Freedom program is also based on the belief in the power of chess to shape and change the mindset of people so that they can lead a changed and better life after their release. Sagar Shah visited Yerwada Prison in Pune in June 2024 as part of the Chess for Freedom program organized by FIDE and Indian Oil. The team formed from the Yerwada prison inmates won the FIDE Intercontinental Prison Championship in 2023 and bagged the bronze medal in 2022. Here is a video on how the game of chess gave new purpose and goals to the Yerwada prison inmates!
How chess gave new meaning to the lives of inmates in Yerwada Prison
Meeting with Susan Namangale, Global Director of Gift of Chess
As discussions about launching The Gift of Chess initiative in India began at ChessBase India office in Mumbai. (From left to right): Sagar, Susan Namangale, Pranali, Ankush, Vidhi and Sagar Sanghvi
When Gift of Chess told ChessBase India earlier this year about its vision to distribute 1000 chess sets in every state in India, we had only a dream to reach and empower the last person/family/community in the country with a 64-square chess board. As we began to assemble a team to launch this project, our paths crossed with Susan Namangale, an environmental scientist from Malawi who later became the global head of The Gift of Chess. Her story is that of a little girl who learned chess from her sister and became a life force driving change in her country’s communities and prisons through chess. We interviewed her during her visit to our Mumbai office to learn more about her journey and this campaign.
When a doctor and a scientist came together to discuss chess!
Susan with the women working together in Mumbai to make chess sets as gifts
The man behind the production of chess sets
Sagar Sanghvi (right) with one of the workers in the factory where the chess sets are made
As we prepare to start distributing 30,000 chess sets in the country, the question arises, “Where will these chess sets come from?” This question arose when Susan introduced us to an important and selfless person named Sagar Sanghvi, the owner of Speedy Products! Sagar volunteered to manufacture and provide 30,000 chess sets at reasonable prices for this wonderful campaign. What is remarkable about his production process is the fact that his company supports women from the slums of Mumbai in making these chess sets! The idea of not only distributing chess sets to the needy but also creating jobs through it is the “gift” of chess to our society!
The entire process of making chess sets
Chess gift for India
Children in a Mumbai orphanage bond over a chessboard!
We are launching Gift of Chess in India today with 1000 chess sets for the people who fill out the form below! We want to reach out to communities, schools, families and players who need a chess set to start or continue their chess career! If you are someone who needs a chess set for yourself or to teach a community near you, feel free to fill out this form! You can use these chess sets for your personal advancement, to teach in social housing, distribute and teach to marginalized groups or however you feel is the best way for people around you to be empowered!
Sagar Shah explains more about the gift of chess initiative!
1000 chess sets are packed and waiting for you!
Important Links
The Gift of Chess website
The Gift of Chess Instagram
