India’s Chess Prodigies

India is in the middle of a chess obsession.

The world’s most populous nation is emerging as a superpower in the sport that is believed to have originated there in the sixth century.

With 85 grandmasters, the country is also producing some of the world’s most exciting rising stars.

At the 2023 World Cup, half the quarterfinalists were Indian – and three of them were teenagers.

But the pressure on the next generation of aspiring champions is intense.

For many, success could lift their families out of poverty.

101 East goes inside the competitive, high-stakes world of Indian chess.