Nashik Chess Club: A positive step towards Chess growth
Nashik, the city of grapes, is dubbed as having the best weather and a fascinating cultural and historical heritage. However, Nashik also has a strong chess heritage. Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, India's third-ranked player, hails from there! But I doubt you would find any chess clubs in Nashik if you looked anyplace. You can now, though! Mr. Onkar Jadhav established a chess club in Nashik's city central mall in conjunction with his chess academy. Since he began teaching chess to students many years ago, Mr. Onkar Jadhav, a national level coach, has had several of his pupils go on to achieve titles as players. He just made the decision to launch a chess club in order to promote the game. The chess club takes place every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the City Centre Mall. Find out more about the person, and his motivation for taking such a step.
Motivation and Execution
The chess culture has been thriving a lot more lately around the world. With the help of the chess boom that happened in COVID-19 and the Netflix show, Queen’s Gambit, many new people have started showing interest in the game. Chessbase India recently launched a first-of its kind chess club in Phoenix Market City, and as a butterfly effect, the step motivated more people to do so. One such person highly inspired by this move was Mr Onkar Jadhav, a chess enthusiast, an international-rated player, and a National instructor based out of Nashik, India. Onkar runs his own chess academy in Nashik by the name of Genius Chess Academy and avidly follows the game.
Following in the footsteps of ChessBase India, he had the idea to open a chess club in Nashik as well, where people of all age groups could just come and enjoy the game to the fullest. This club session takes place at the City Centre Mallevery Wednesday from 5-7 PM!
Mr. Onkar Jadhav got in touch with the people at City Centre Mall with the goal of promoting chess in Nashik. Not only would that invite more and more people into the game, but they would also get the needed direction he says. The impact of media coverage was clearly evident. Onkar told us that it could only be possible because of what Chessbase India does. He showed the respective senators a few photographs of the Mumbai chess club and some of the articles. That motivated them enough to allow him to start this new journey, for better.
However, it has been almost 10 months now, and not a lot of people know about the chess club. Onkar feels that it is so because the chess culture in Nashik is still not that developed, despite it being the home of India's top chess player, Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi. Right now, there are a maximum of 200 players that play chess in Nashik, and Onkar wants to take this number up to a minimum of 1000.
Goal
Onkar is an avant-garde chess lover, and his main goal behind starting this chess club is to increase the number of chess-playing individuals in Nashik and all over the country. He also feels that by doing this format, one player can play with many different people, which will increase their understanding of the game while maintaining the fun factor. For the people who cannot afford to go to different cities to play in a chess tournament, Onkar wants to give them a place in their own city where they can come, learn, and play for free.
A phrase comes to mind when we ask Onkar what his goal with the club is: "Catch them while they are young!" Onkar feels that when a person is young, he shifts his focus to different games and hobbies, so if at a young age, they get addicted to the game, it will be quite fruitful in the long run. He does not aim to make these games competitive; so that people can just play however they like. Even if a kid plays the game for fun, that will be a win for him.
The hard work and dedication that go into doing something like this are laudable. Onkar does not take a single penny from anyone who wants to come and play there, and he himself is there at the venue from 5-7:30 PM every Wednesday. He manages the whole thing alone, no matter how tiring that might be.
The People Behind the Scenes and More Information about the chess club!
Mr. Onkar Jadhav has four chess centres in Nashik itself, has been teaching kids for more than 10 years, and also conducts online training sessions. Onkar wants to thank Mr. Yogesh Desale from City Centre Mall for trusting his vision and giving him the opportunity to do this.
The renowned City Centre Mall is where the chess club meets.
“Every Wednesday, this club meets from 5 to 7 p.m. The club is completely free; there are no fees whatsoever! We want to give chess players a venue where they can meet, play, and learn the game in a pleasant and friendly atmosphere.
We cordially invite all Nashik chess enthusiasts to come to play with us every Wednesday for a memorable chess experience.”