Marottichal: The Chess Addicted Village of India
Chess Addiction Is Better Than Alcohol.
— Marottichal
Hello friends, you are all welcome to my this blog post..
Today I'm going to share with you a real story. A story of a village. The village where almost everyone is addicted. Almost every Uncle, aunty, grandpa, Grandma and even small kids has a addiction. Don't worry guys.., this is not a bad addiction, this is a good addiction, The addiction of playing chess♟️!!
If there is one place on earth that survives although suffering from addiction, then Marottichal in Kerala is probably the only place. They have managed to recover beautifully from their alcohol addiction with the help of 64 squares and 32 pieces.
Some 50 years ago, Marottichal, a secluded village in Thrissur district of the southern Indian state of Kerala, was hooked on alcohol🍺 and illegal gambling🎰. To shake off the shackles of these addictions, the people of this small hamlet embraced the ancient strategy game of chess. Interestingly, with a population of just 6,000 people, more than two-thirds are now addicted to the pastime!
Back in the 1960s and 70s, the people of Marottichal village in northern Kerala were dependent on alcohol … and this led to several problems in the village, as well as domestic violence fueled by alcohol addiction. Gradually, the locals realised their community was experiencing adverse repercussions because of alcohol and the problems it brings, and decided it needed to be dealt with immediately.
To solve this big problem a Tea Master named C. Unnikrishnan in Kerala created a idea 💡. He desperately wanted to recover his people from the demons of alcoholism have been a grand success to date. The people who were before a hood of hedonists and gamblers, is now a brood of out of the box thinkers; professional chess players.
One man changed their lives forever. He plucked alcohol out and moved their soul with his interesting moves on the chessboard. The inspired 6000+ villagers are the living epitome of how healthy addiction can bring peace to the world. The villagers ‘checkmated’ alcohol and gambling. Mr. Unnikrishnan has since trained over 700 people.
Today, about 90% of the Marottichal’s population are chess players. In fact, at least one person from every house in the village is a chess player and the inhabitants play this ancient strategy game with utter enthusiasm and passion. In fact, this classic black-and-white board game isn’t just a leisure pursuit for the villagers, rather it’s their way of life. The age of the youngest chess player is just eight, while the oldest is 80 in the village. It comes as no surprise that the village is referred to as the only Chess Village in India.
Learning about the village’s chess literacy and passion, Viswanathan Anand, an Indian Chess Grandmaster and five-time world chess champion, congratulated them. In addition, Marottichal even has an Asian record of 1,000 people playing chess at the same time and people from all over the world flock to the area to learn how to play.
