India has a decent sized population and is much richer than it used to be.
Why is India so good at chess?
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May 12, 2025
0
#3
Their government supports chess players. Financially. They also market chess to their population. Frequently.
Meanwhile in the US, once Rex Sinquefield dies, a lot of the tournament money dries up for players here. How are we supposed to support players to pursue chess near the top, when there is no incentive?
May 12, 2025
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#4
If we talk about good players like 1% population….Count number from Indian population and France, for instance..
May 12, 2025
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#5
KmBoor wrote:
Because they have a culture that supports it, and for a predominantly poor country, chess is a way out of poverty for many. For all the other countries that don’t support chess, becoming a professional is the way towards poverty.
China too.
Mundian to Bach Ke
May 12, 2025
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#9
Artem_Georgiev wrote:
How? What? When? Why?
It's called cheating, bro
May 12, 2025
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#10
Stormy-Boy-2007 wrote:
It is the origin place of chess, they have a huge population, they have a very rich chess culture, they have strong Asian brains.
Vishy anand probably has something to do with it, he made chess popular in india
May 12, 2025
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#11
Savelii_O wrote:
India is so good at chess because chess originated there
For a country where Chess originated from, they were pretty bad at it for a very long time.
Clearly, between now and the 1800s, something changed, and it wasn't the fact that chess originated from India.
May 12, 2025
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#12
India's strength in chess comes from a combination of deep cultural respect for the game, systemic support, and a new generation of motivated players.
May 12, 2025
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#13
If you are interested in how Talent develops over time, I Recommend the book "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. He has a section where he covers the phenomenon of when countries that are not strong in one area, suddenly (at least, apparently so) become very good (Curacao, baseball).
India hits all the right spots - their chess players are uplifted, they are supported financially, and they are advertised (literally!). The players also behave very well. I'm sure they are role models for millions of Indians by this point. I don't think it should surprise anyone that India is becoming a powerhouse. Anand was World Champion for a bit, and afterwards, not much news from India... but skill takes time to develop, and we're seeing it now.
Probably because of Anand's impact. Before him India wasn't such a strong chess country
May 13, 2025
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#16
I say that even if they were from India, they truly grew to be one of the top chess players Even when back then they were not the best though the fact that they created chess is remarkable to say as least
May 13, 2025
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#17
Its hard to say, but I mostly attribute it to talent. A lot of people have said its because of institutional support but I don't buy it completely. I started playing chess at age 29 this year and already gained like +500 rating in a couple of months and reached 98% percentile without any coaching or lessons, playing like 1h a day after work. Maybe its innate within us? Haha
May 13, 2025
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#18
techwiz911 wrote:
Its hard to say, but I mostly attribute it to talent. A lot of people have said its because of institutional support but I don't buy it completely. I started playing chess at age 29 this year and already gained like +500 rating in a couple of months and reached 98% percentile without any coaching or lessons, playing like 1h a day after work. Maybe its innate within us? Haha
Perhaps it is a pride that you guys have for your country, which is called Nationalism which is a good thing
May 13, 2025
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#19
I think there are 3 main reason -
1) Massive population- With a such a large population, ofc there will be good players
2) Influence- I know nearly 100 people from my school alone that play chess online influenced by peers,Anand, Gukesh and ofcoures Levy.
3) Money- If you are an IM or maybe a CM in India you can make enough for a living because of chess classes and tournament prize money.
How? What? When? Why?