As chess fever peaks in Chennai, scuba divers battle it out underwater

Tamil Nadu, which is now hosting the 44th Chess Olympiad, is taking their love for the game to places not many have gone before.

New videos released on YouTube and other social media showed six scuba divers playing chess sixty feet deep under the sea in the Bay of Bengal.

The description on the video says this undersea games happened on Sunday at a spot 5 kms off the coast near Neelangarai, and that they used specially-designed, heavy chess pieces to prevent them from being swept away.


Here is one of the video clips posted to Twitter.

The team was led by scuba diving instructor SB Aravind Tharunsri. That's the person you'll find in the videos in a white shirt and chequered veshti. At the beginning of some video clips, he can be seen putting on a horse mask and painting 'Thambi' on his forearm to represent the mascot of the Chess Olympiad.

"The Chess Olympiad in Chennai is a matter of pride for us. We want to celebrate," NDTV quoted Tharunsri as saying.

Here is a longer video, courtesy Temple Adventures, shared by YouTube channel TellMyStory, on how they went about it.

In the video, the players can be seen using hand signals either to concede the game or offer a draw. At the end, all the chess players, including a young girl, can be seen posing on board the boat. They said they did not use any plastic undersea, nor did they leave any waste behind.