"It is noticed that Indian players perform very good outside India"- Ankit Dalal's vision to give chess players foreign exposure, Catalan tour & more

The popularity of chess has increased significantly in recent years, and people like Ankit Dalal have been working hard to make the sport even more popular. Dalal, who is former joint secretary of the Gujarat State Chess Association and National Instructor Coach, plans Catalan tours, wherein he takes upcoming chess players to Spain and provides them with the experience of playing in foreign countries.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda on the sidelines of the FIDE World Junior Chess Championships 2024 tournament at GIFT City in Gujarat, Dalal shared details about the chess culture in the Catalan region of Spain.

"Spain, in fact, is one of the biggest countries in the world, which organizes a lot of back-to-back tournaments in a year. This Catalan circuit is very famous because it starts from April. There are mini tournaments for the Spanish players, and then, the main tournament starts from July 2nd till August 10th, and then again, a new circuit starts after September," Dalal explained.

Ankit Dalal highlighted that his company is the first to start such tours, and even kids from the age group of around 10 years can join it.

"Our company has a concept, where we take players from our country, to go and play in those circuits. There is no company in the world which does that," Dalal added.

When asked about the benefits that the players gain from such tours, Ankit Dalal listed down the three major advantages for young players and their parents.

"The first benefit is that the costs come down for parents. Just imagine that a parent and a child travel abroad, it may cost double than that the cost of the child traveling with the professional," he said.

"Second advantage is that, today's life is quite hectic, and parents cannot take out 40 days from their work schedule, because this tour is going to be for 40 days," he added.

"The third thing is that one round happens daily there, while in India, we have two rounds, the ratings tournaments and stuff. So it is noticed that the Indian players perform very good outside India," Dalal continued.

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"The minimum someone has increased the rating point is of 120 to 700 points there"- Ankit Dalal on how competing in foreign countries benefits Indian talent

Ankit Dalal then spoke about the other advantages that the young players experienced when playing away from their home, outside their comfort zone area.

"The last two tours, I have observed that not just chess, it also helps in the development of the child in other areas of life. When the kid goes away from the parent and has to perform in a space, where he is not restricted, he has his own space, he starts thinking independently," Dalal stated.

Further explaining his role in the tours, Dalal said that his goal is to motivate the players to perform their best in the tournaments. More than 40 players have participated in the two tours conducted so far.

"I, as a professional chess player or chess coach, don't coach them. What I do is I motivate them, and they are coaches by their own coaches. We make sure that they play all tournaments. We have already done two tours to Catalan circuit, and over 40 players have participated," Dalal added.

Speaking about how the skills and game of the players improved following the tour and foreign exposure, Ankit Dalal said:

"It has been quite impressive. The minimum someone has increased the rating point is of 120 to 700 points there. So, Indians perform exceptionally well."

The question arises about the security of a young kid who travels to another country without his parents or guardians. Sharing details about the facilities provided by his team, Ankit said:

"Basically, we stay in appartments over there. We take a chef from India for food perspective, home-cooked food is provided, and there are two players in each room. We take a five bedroom-six bedroom appartment nearby and accomodate players like that."

"So the basic thing that should keep in mind is if it's a 10 year old, what about safety? So we have designed in a particular way is that we take care of the kids, the first tour, even I myself am going. Taking care of the kids is essential, and that is what we do. We don't pamper them, but we give them an independent thing to move forward. Their security is our goal," Ankit Dalal explained.

Ankit Dalal mentioned that he plans to expand such tours to other sports apart from chess. However, at the moment, his primary focus is on chess.

"We are going to convert this company into an all-sports company, where we will also be doing different kinds of tours for cricket, football and other sports. We are the first in the world to do it, and I am proud of it," Ankit Dalal signed off.

The World Junior Chess Championships ended yesterday in GIFT City. Ankit Dalal hosted the Prize Giving Ceremony, where India's Divya Deshmukh won the title in the U20 girls category.