A cura di @Ospizio.

In questo articolo di BBC travel si parla di un villaggio in India ossessionato per il gioco degli scacchi.

4000 abitanti su 6000 giocano regolarmente e l’ascesa della popolarità del gioco è coincisa con il diminuire di problemi legati ad alcolismo e gioco d’azzardo.

“In other Indian villages perhaps the maximum number of people that know chess is less than 50,” said Baby John, president of the Chess Association of Marottichal. “Here 4,000 of the 6,000 population are playing chess, almost daily.”

“And it is all thanks to this wonderful man,” he added, gesturing to Unnikrishnan.

Fifty years ago, Marottichal was a very different place. Like many villages in northern Kerala, alcoholism and illicit gambling were rife among its small population. Having developed a zeal for chess while living in the nearby town of Kallur, Unnikrishnan moved back to his afflicted hometown and opened his teashop, where he began teaching customers to play chess as a healthier way to pass the time.

Immagine da pixabay