Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore
Indian youngsters are making waves in the world of chess. People have become familiar with the names of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, R Vaishali and others. They are not household names, but well-known nonetheless. To know more about them, one should wait until March-April next year. That’s when a documentary film on them is expected to be released.
‘Candidates’ is a venture of Dopamine Media, a production house which makes docu-features. It is going to tell the story of Indian chess through the tales of some of these young players who have taken the world by storm. Being filmed for about two years now, this is going to be the first-ever endeavour of this kind when it comes to Indian chess.
“We were trying to narrate a story, which became history,” says Prashant Raj, who runs the production house. Talking to RevSportz at the World Championship venue in Singapore, he added, “When we started doing this during the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai, perception was that in the next three-four years, someone from India will make it to the Candidates. We started out with the intention of chronicling history. Then, it became history.”
The mining engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur was not remotely into chess. He had made a series called ‘Alma Maters Inside the IIT Dream’, which was shown on Netflix. His friend and fellow IIT graduate Biswakalyan Rath told him sometime around the end of 2021 that there was a “story worth telling on Indian chess”. They have been working on the project since.
Gukesh’s qualification for the World Championship match against Ding Liren has been an unforeseen boost. “But this is not only about him. We wanted to tell the story of Indian chess through the rapid rise of this young bunch. Gukesh, Pragg, Arjun, Vidit Gujrathi, Nihal Sarin, Vaishali and others are the central characters of our story. There are others as well.”
This effort is trying to convey the story of the journey of these players. It will cover the sacrifices they and their parents have had to make. Starting from the 2022 Olympiad, they have covered around 10 tournaments, including the Candidates, Global Chess League and the 2024 Olympiad.
During this process, along with cameraperson Abhineet Chute who is also an IIT graduate, Raj has realised that these players are actually children, irrespective of their mature displays on the board. “They like ice-creams and milkshakes and of course poor jokes. Once Gukesh asked me ‘what does the fish say when it hits the wall?’ The answer is ‘Oh damn!’” Raj also says that he has beaten Arjun and Pragg in a game and then adds that it was a game of table tennis.
On a serious note, Raj adds that this film is about the arrival on the big stage of young India. “I don’t comprehend the game, but I can comprehend people. This is about kids, who sacrifice their childhood and parents who often sacrifice their careers. Like chess, the opening is about deciding that they will take up the game. The middle-game is about becoming a Grandmaster. The end-game is about becoming a champion. And one must not forget that they are still children.”
The duration of ‘Candidates’ will be between 90-120 minutes. Dopamine Media, ChessBase India and Camera and Shots are the joint-producers. International Master Sagar Shah of ChessBase India is the co-executive producer. Raj wants to release this on a global level through OTT platforms. “Nothing of this scale has been done on chess yet,” he says.
Get ready for some rare insights into the journey of these prodigious talents who have changed the face of Indian chess. In Indian sports, there are stories to be told beyond cricket. ‘Candidates’ is a major step in that direction.
All eyes on Gukesh vs Ding Liren Round 11! Tied 5-5 after 10 games, Gukesh has white today—can he crack Ding’s solid defense?
The battle for the World Chess Championship intensifies in Singapore! @atreyom @BSV_Global @BoriaMajumdar @DGukesh #Gukesh #DingLiren… pic.twitter.com/n2aNJ9UXEy
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) December 8, 2024
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