Vishwanathan Anand plays chess with a school student at Rabindra Bhavan in Patna on Friday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, July 8: Mahasweta Kumar, a Class IX student of Mangaldai Town GHS School, Assam, knows a little more about chess than how to move a bishop across a chessboard. But the national champion of NIIT MindChampions’ Academy National School Finals, 2011, was overwhelmed when she met Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand.

Anand today felicitated Mahasweta and nine other young chess players at a function at Rabindra Bhavan. He also played the game with the school students.

“Most of the children continued with the struggle even after the game was over. They played with spirit. They should continue to play the game,” said Anand.

As advice to the young players, he said: “The first move is very important in a game of chess. If you make a wrong move, you may be forced to make a number of unnecessary moves.”

The students who were felicitated included Mahasweta, national runners-up Mukul Kumar, Class X of GD Mother International School, Muzaffarpur, west-zone winner Dudani Devarshi, Class IX student of Arbuda Sanskar Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad, and north-zone winner Tarang Mittal, a Class XII students of Chhabil Dass Public School, Ghaziabad.

Mahasweta said: “It is great to be here. National-level recognition is a great thing for young players like us.” She was also the national-level winner of The Telegraph School Under-12 Chess Tournament, 2008.

Anand said: “The NIIT MindChampions’ Academy was started in 2002. The academy now has over a million students with over 11,000 clubs across the country. Children who play chess often notice an improvement in their academic and non-academic skills. It is also a lot of fun.”

He also inaugurated NIIT NGURU state-of-the-art interactive session at DAV, BSEB.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi was present at the programme.