IIT-M unveils tech-driven plans to make India global chess powerhouse

CHENNAI: IIT Madras Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA) showcased plans to make India a Global Chess Powerhouse using technology-driven tools.

The Institute made these announcements on Saturday at the 'Sports Tech Start Up Conclave' being organised in New Delhi by IIT-M CESSA.

Addressing the Conclave, Sandip Pradhan, Director-General, Sports Authority of India (SAI), said, "This is just a beginning. We have started working with IIT-M and there is scope to do a lot of collaboration. We would like to strengthen our collaboration further. To all the entrepreneurs, we are looking to support start-ups. We are looking for opportunities to work with start-ups. If you have products that you think can be applied in sports bodies, we will work with you. The Government will support not only research but also products."

On his part, V Kamakoti, Director of IIT-M said, "Chess is a very interesting and thought-provoking sport that involves a lot of pattern-matching and strategies. High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence can play a very crucial role that can aid chess players during the training phase by enumerating several scenarios and the best possible game plans for those. IIT Madras is very keen to develop such platforms with an objective to make Bharat a global chess powerhouse."

IIT-M CESSA also plans to offer courses for upgrading skills and undertake specific steps to train various players in the sports value chain in India as part of its sports education initiative.

These initiatives will cover sportspersons, PE instructors, coaches, referees, analysts, physiologists, nutritionists, umpires, sports presenters and management personnel.

As part of this IIT Madras CESSA plans to launch five new courses in sports on NPTEL in the coming months.