Hyderabad, November 30, 2006: NIIT MindChampions Academy, a joint initiative of NIIT and NIIT Mind Champion Viswanathan Anand conducted the second Inter District Chess event, Chess Master 2006 for AP State Government and Private Schools, today in Hyderabad. The NIIT MindChampions Academy, running popularly in nearly 3000 schools in the country, exposes students in the age group of 6-15 years to the world of Chess.
The second of its kind in AP, the NIIT Chess event had nearly 10,663 students from over 764 schools spread across 15 districts of AP, participate this year. These are from amongst Government and Private schools where NIIT has been providing computer education. NIIT is a project partner with the State Government for their SSA/ DPEP initiative.
Marking the symbolic opening of the event, Smt. N. Rajya Lakshmi, Hon’ble Minister of School Education, Adult Education, Libraries, Archaeology & Museums and Archives, Govt of Andhra Pradesh and Dr. P Krishnaiah, IAS, Secretary, School Education made their first moves in a game of Chess with the winners from 15 districts. Mr K. Chandramouli, IAS, SPD, SSA/DPEP also graced the occasion with his presence.
Speaking at the launch, Mr. K Rajendra Prasad, GM, NIIT K-12 said, “The NIIT MindChampions Academy's National School Chess event is aimed at initiating young minds on a path of excellence in academics as well as sports.”
“We have received an overwhelming response from the state Government and school children of AP who turned out in large numbers to participate in this contest," he added.
Mahesh Kumar A of Rajahmundry Govt High School and B Deepak Kumar from Zilla Parishad High School, Garugubilli, Vijayanagaram were declared as winners in senior and junior category of the Chess Master 2006. In the private schools category Mani Maran M, of DAV Public School, Safilguda, Hyderabad, P. Srinivas Varma of DAVBDL Public School, Medak and Sai Srinivas of Nalanda Vidya Bhavan High School, Hyderabad were adjudged as winners in senior, junior and sub-junior categories respectively. The winners will go on to represent the state at the South Zone clash, leading to the national level finals, at Chennai.
The national winner to be referred as ChessMaster will receive the Chess Master 2006 trophy from Grand Master Viswanathan Anand, at Chennai.
NIIT as project partner of the state in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan / DPEP initiative is providing computer education to over 3,00,000 students in 663 government schools in the state. The IT education and training major has so far trained over 15,140 teachers from the state and has equipped schools with state of the art IT infrastructure.
Launched in 2003 with an objective of initiating students into the world of Chess, NIIT MindChampions Academy has today fostered nearly 3000 clubs with more than 65,000 students as its members in schools where NIIT offers computer education.
The students use computer-based tutorials, during and after school as a virtual playfield to hone their skills in the game of Chess. Apart from tutorials, promising Chess players get an opportunity to interact with NIIT Brand Ambassador and Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, in person at regular intervals.
Leveraging its inherent strength in technology, NIIT MindChampions Academy has created a virtual community of Chess enthusiasts in the country. The Academy has Viswanathan Anand, NIIT Group Chairman Rajendra S. Pawar and President of NIIT K12 L. Balasubramanian and few eminent world Chess personalities on its Advisory Board.