Tania Sachdev is the recipient of India’s highest sports honour – Arjuna Award. A chess player, who also holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grand Master (WGM), she started playing chess at the age of six and won her first international title at the age of eight.

She was a national champion in 2006 and 2007 and won the bronze medal in World U12 championship. On her most satisfying moment being a chess player, she said, “It was when I won the Asian Women Championship and heard our national anthem play.”

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When asked what was next for her, she said, “To become a better and stronger chess player. Instead of destination goals, now I set journey goals.” On her most memorable moment, Tania said, “Winning the Arjuna Award was really special for me. However, every game has a special moment.”

On the state of chess in the world, she said, “I think the game is evolving, there is such a big intellectual appeal to the game. And now we see schools taking up and making it part of their curriculum. Professional trainers, so many tournaments happening…it is booming.”

On gender barrier, she said, “I do feel sports in general and chess in particular break the gender barrier. You come into the field and only your game does the talking. In chess, we play open tournaments, we play against men. You are just a player.”

She thinks there is much to be done for improving sports in India. “I think there is so much that is required in terms of better infrastructure for sports in general. But chess is a brain game, and we need better trainers to improve calculation, strategy, and technique.”

“And the second most important thing is you have to monetise sports. You have to make the chess a career option. I think, things are changing for better but there is still a long way to go.”

She said that media has a major role to play when it comes to popularising sports. “The image of Kabaddi completely transformed after the Pro Kabaddi League. We need to cover players of not-so-popular sports.”

“Things are changing though, sponsors are coming in. Russia, China, England and the United States are producing extremely strong players. India is a big storehouse of talent, only we need to support the youngsters.”

When asked what she would like to see for the promotion of the sport, Tania said chess should be introduced in schools. “Not that everybody will become a professional chess player, but the idea is to get chess in the system.”

“In many countries, students play chess simply because it’s been proven that it better their academic performance. We need best trainers and opportunities to play against the best in the world.”