'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
For a country which eats and breathes sports of all kind, Brain Duel comes as a refreshing and welcome change. Observing how mind sports like Chess, Rummy, E-gaming, Poker, Quiz etc. have been away from the limelight, Brain Duel founders Gaurav Gaggar and Kunal Lalani dreamt of bringing these sports together under one apex organisation and creating a series of championships and leagues across the calendar year.
Not only will this give way to an inter-mixing of the country's talent but also promote India as a leading nation in mind sports. Amateurs competing in the open tournament will have an opportunity to get selected in the future for the league teams as well. Brain Duel hopes to act as a platform for amateur players with talent to carve out a future pathway and in turn grow the country's talent pool across these mind sports. For categories like rummy, it will be the first time in the world that the sport will have its own league.
In an exclusive Sportskeeda interview, Brain Duel co-founder Gaurav Gaggar, elaborated on this terrific idea and gave us an insight into the upcoming league series slated for October 2018. Here are some excerpts from the conversation:
Q> What was the main idea behind the creation of such a League?
Gaurav: You see, in the past 10 years or so, there have been a lot of Indians playing a lot of these mind games but for X, Y, Z reason they have remained in the shadows of gambling. But now, they can come play these games openly without gambling and just using their skill for competing against each other.
Also, due to the advancement of technology, one realizes people of all ages and across all cultural diversities can compete using smartphones. We can have really young to older people playing the same game which we cannot have in other games like, cricket or football. These mental games had to come out someday. They were already in the length and breadth of India but not in a position to provide a platform for people to showcase their skills. The idea behind Brain Duel was to get people to participate.
Q> How long has this idea been fermenting in your head?
Gaurav: To think about it now, Brain Duel as an official brand has been in the planning for some two-two and a half years now.
Q> What is this League seeking to achieve in terms of popularity and success?
Gaurav: We have 500 million smartphone users in India as of now. We want to integrate the entire fabric of India in participating in Brain Duel. They can play from the comfort of their homes or offices. We seek to be nothing less than where cricket is right now as a sport in India and maybe we'll be successful 6-7 years down the line.
Q> What has the response been like, so far?
Gaurav: There has been a good response so far from players and potential team buyers. We have collaborations across Europe too. So it's not restricted to India only. We expect to get all the stakeholders of mental sports together. We are a generation made for the consumption of content and nothing more than gaming and movies unite people this way.
About Brain Duel
Brain Duel Games Pvt. Ltd. has been incubated with a vision to promote mind sporting talent in the country. The co-founders of the firm come with a deep experience in raising the bar for mind sports in India. So far mind sports like chess, Rummy, e-gaming, Poker, Quiz etc. have been in silos and niche pockets. Brain Duel believes in bringing these sports together under one apex organisation and creating a series of championships and leagues across the calendar year. This will allow for cross-pollination of talent and the overall development of India as a leading hub for mind sports across the world. The company starts by launching a mind sports league series and will further add to this with innovative formats to make competitive mind sports more inclusive and engaging for participants and audiences alike.
