Can chess ever be marketed as a viable sport in India?

Chess is always known as a game for intellectuals, a game which requires concentration and logical thinking.

Despite having Vishwanathan Anand as the No 1. player in World Chess, the game does not hold the same mass appeal as say ,a cricket or football here.

The passiveness of chess may be a reason as to why it is really difficult to market as a mainstream sport.

Chess is popular in southern states, which has produced exceptional players like Koneru Humpy (Womens World No 2.) and of course Anand, and definitely has a huge market for the game in certain sections.

Chess probably cannot garner interest through televised marketing, (as Chess games aired on DD sports have practically no viewership, save for the hardcore chess afficianados glued on), but online media and social networking sites like Facebook can help in promoting the game (Facebook’s Chess application is widely used along with Scrabble by users).

So, the best bet to market Chess as a liked sport would be to use strategies like online marketing (give away free chess apps and manuals to users of a particular site/portal. Though Yahoo does not give away freebies, it’s online chess games are a big hit).

Checkmate!

School kids should be the target audience, and chess clubs with professional coaches are also required strategies to help garner interest at the grassroots.

Anand and former internationals like Russia’s Anatoly Karpov (ex-World champion) can help kids take up the sport through regular chess workshops and clinics at school level. Also, the introduction of the game as a part of academics will also be a big boost .

Anand and Karpov, two Chess greats!

Also, introducing the’ Rapid fire’ and ‘Blitz’ formats of the game at school level can help in shedding of the ‘boring’ tag associated with the game (Chess can take a cue from T20 cricket).

The aim should be to market chess as an art, an art of strategy and logic, and the best way to do it would be through the internet.

Though it would be unrealistic to think of Chess having the same stature as that of cricket or for that matter, even football in India, there is still a lot of untapped potential for the game here, and if promoted and marketed well, would surely have its own place in the Indian sports scene in the years to come.