GREAT CHESS MOVEMENT IN GUJARAT - DREAMS BLOOM WHERE FEW LOOK

Prasant Rupera writes in The Times of India of 7 August 2026

100-house Guj village produces 17 Fide-rated players in 4 years.
Maths Teacher Behind Chess Movement

A 100-household village in Gujarat's Mahisagar district has shown that talent needs neither skyscrapers nor elite academies - only a chessboard and a chance . 

Ratusinh Na Muvada has produced 17 Fide-rated players in just four years and its little champions - mostly children of farmhands and daily wage labourers  - have also collected 120 trophies and 179 medals.

Driving this improbable rise is Sandip Upadhyay, a 45 year old Maths teacher at the govt-run Bal Vatika. From a crumbling five-room school, where only two classrooms are usable and many of its 200 students study in the open, he launched a chess movement in 2021 with a daring endgame - producing 50 grandmasters and 10 world champions. 

A FIDE rating is an official international skill measurement assigned to competitive chess players by FIDE(the International Chess Federation). It uses the Elo system to gauge performance against other rated opponents.

"I want to build a place where talented children from villages across India who cannot afford opportunities, can stay, study and receive world-class chess coaching. Alongside chess, they should also prepare for competitive examinations like GPSC and UPSC," Upadhyay said. His larger dream is India's biggest govt-funded chess school in the village.

After TOI spotlighted the village in Sept 2025, the Mahisagar administration began planning a new school, nearly 8.5 times larger than the existing building, complete with a dedicated chess hall.

Upadhyay spends much of his salary on entry fees,travel, books and chess kits.

Results have arrived at lightning speed. 

His students have played 24 state tournaments, finishing among the top three in 22. Bal Vatika was named the best performing institution at Students' Chess Festival in gandhinagar last Dec. The village has sent 21 children to the govt-run District Level Sports School, where they receive free education, residential facilities and specialised coaching. 

Support has steadily gathered pace through donations, equipment and free coaching, including monthly sessions by grandmaster Ankit Rajpara.

Among Upadyay's brightest pupils is class 8 student Divya Chauhan, daughter of a farm labourer who remained unbeaten in taluka tournaments for two years, finishing third in a state women's championship and now training at Gujarat's sports school.

"My dream is to become a grandmaster and represent India. I want girls from villages to believe they can achieve too," she said.

Never underestimate a passed pawn.

In Ratusinh Na Muvada, every child is pushing a pawn across a worn out board believes the next move could change a life.