International chess competition for students to be held shortly: School Education Minister

In a function, he said, the international chess championship programme is an attempt to encourage students across the State to take up the sport actively. Adding to this, he said, “After consulting Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the school education department decided to organise the event grandly.”

The Minister said, several international players are expected to participate in the event, which will be held in Chennai very soon. He also stated that chess as a sport has quota in State government jobs. 

Sengottaiyan said that Tamil Nadu has been the vanguard of chess development in India. According to the minister, the game has been introduced in Government schools primarily to enhance the reasoning ability of the students. He said different categories of chess competitions are conducted for children in the age group between 7 and 17, from school to the State level. 

In the year 2017-18, a total of 24 students emerged as winners at the State level chess competitions. 

The Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs.22 lakhs to meet out the expenses of conducting these competitions at various levels in 2017-18.