Introduction to the Chess Mahotsav - Be Overwhelmed by the scale

The state of Gujarat is one of the biggest and the fastest upcoming state in INDIA.
The state has been promoting industry, culture and sports very aggressively off-late.
The Swarnim Gujarat Chess Mahotsav was a Gargantuan task taken up by the Gujarat Govt. to:

1. Breach Existing record of Mexico of 13000 chess players playing a tournament at one instance
2. promote the game of chess in the state of Gujarat.

The stage was set!! It was time for the average state chess player to be a part of an historic event!!

Surprising enough!! The game of chess which I had learnt during my kindergarten days and followed up religiously during my teens only to gently push it over the parapet ever since, still ignites the kind of passion any other game has failed to ignite!!!
From almost a month ago, I had been planning my travel from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, so that I could have participated in the event.
A sneak peek into the arrangements

• The organizers this time went Hitech and all the details of the event were Pre-launched on the Chess Gujarat Website.
• The GMDC ground in Ahmedabad was decorated and decked up like never before....
• Around 40000 Chairs and tables were systematically laid to resemble a chess board.
• All the 1000 masters and 19000 players were given a unique code which took them to their exact location.
• 20000 players, 1000 masters, and around 5000 arbiters were on field through out the day.

Swarnim Gujarat - Can it do to Chess what Chakde did to Hockey ?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls!!! Gujarat has arrived!! and in what way!!! Smashing and crusading on all fronts!!

The inception of the Swarnim Gujarat - The Golden Jubilee Celebration of Gujarat's existence has been an watershed event itself in Gujarat's history. There were many events which transposed Gujarat from being a mere spectator in many areas to being a world leader and World Record holder in many categories. Music, Sports - both indoor and outdoor, culture, tree plantation were a sample few categories where the Gujarat mantle was held high and If Mr. Modi's ambitions are to be be crystallized, the Gujarat Juggernaut is on a Roller coaster ride in the days to come.

The next few sections of my blog would traverse you through what can be the ' INFLECTION POINT' for the game of ' CHESS'  in Gujarat and if Mr. Narendra Modi's vision is anything to go by, he is the 'Chakde' man for Chess in Gujarat. There were a few glitches too in the event, but I would not dilute the glory of this event by listing them here, shall write about the same in some other forum