Sunday, August 06, 2006

Diploma in Chess Mastery

No joke! Yes, the country where chess originated is now creating a formal university qualification in chess. Would-be grandmasters can earn their diploma in chess at the Symbiosis University, in India.

Dr Satish Thigale, faculty head at the university:

The game originated in India, but over the years the West has left its mark on the game due to persistent efforts and systematic coaching. It’s time we change that and the best way to go about it would be developing it in school.

The idea certainly contributes to India's very high ambitions of notching up 100 grandmasters by the year 2012. So far, they have 14 - a long way to go!

The idea of chess being part of some kind of tertiary study is probably nothing new. I'm pretty sure the Russians have been doing it for years. But I'm not certain if they had a stand-alone qualification like a "diploma in chess". Perhaps our more learned readers can clarify.

2 comments:

Milan Lee said...

China has chess school for extremely talented kids. It is located in Peking and head coach is GM Ye Yiangchuan. The system is very strict; kids can see their parents only once a year etc

DeNovoMeme said...

goran, that is not a diploma course, it's a 10 year sentence in solitary confinement with hard labour. If that is was they do to the their best, imagine what they do to their drongos ;-)