This colourful chess game with dancers wins Anand Mahindra's praise

It was released ahead of the inauguration of the 44th Chess Olympiad. Among the various programmes the different districts of Tamil Nadu came up with to celebrate the occasion, this video by Pudukottai is going viral online.

It is a choreographed game with dancers in Indian costumes playing the role of chess pieces. The choreography was by Pudukkottai Collector Kavitha Ramu. The video got a tweet up from business tycoon Anand Mahindra.

"Superb. Choreographed, I’m told, by Ms Kavitha Ramu, Collector Pudukkottai. Makes the chess pieces come alive in our imagination. Also it has authenticity, given the game was invented in India. Bravo!," the Mahindra Group chairman tweeted.


A closer look at the video shared on YouTube would show that it is no mindless costume play. The pieces dance - in a mix of classical, folk and martial styles - to enact an opening game. The first few dance moves would read like this: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6... Ruy Lopez? Some of you would know this better.

Nf3 Nc6 are a delight to watch, with the colourful poikkal kuthirai - of the famous dummy horse folk dance of Tamil Nadu - replacing the staid knights. At one point in the game, you can also spot white castling kingside.

The best part comes towards the end when the black queen does a handspring, lines up beside the white king, and pins him down with her sword. Checkmate!