New Delhi: While the number of chess players in India are on the rise and the board game has witnessed huge popularity but wizard Koneru Humpy feels that it could have been much better, in terms of quantity and quality as well. The 38-year-old is a runner-up of the Women’s World Chess Championship and reigning two-time Women’s World Rapid Chess Champion.

In an exclusion conversation with News9 Sports, the first Indian female player to achieve the title of Grandmaster back in 2002, says that though chess is becoming quite popular in the country with the rise of some new stars but the overall chess infrastructure in India needs improvement which enables more players who are capable to become stars.

When asked about the ways to boost the growth of chess in India, Humpy called China ‘an inspiration’ as they have chess sectors where the players gather in one place and undergo combined work. Their approach is such that they further segregate the players from the entire lot depending on their strengths and carry out rigorous training with them.

That is the reason they have batches of players coming out every time and when there is a world champion from China, another batch is ready to dominate the board game. While a collective approach is undertaken to succeed in the game in China, in India it’s more of an individual effort which helps one achieve success. She further said that because of their own efforts and talents, players are coming up in chess in India........

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