Bangalore, Jan 6: Chess is suddenly accumulating all attention in this Cricket-loving country. It seems that Cricket is gradually losing its charm while Chess along with other games is stealing the limelight. After Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, the Karnataka government is likely to introduce the brainstorming game as a compulsory sport in school level.

Anticipating that the game could indeed improve cognitive skills of children, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Visveshwara Hegde Kageri has been quoted as saying, "We're seriously considering making chess compulsory in schools. It's aimed at improving the cognitive skills of children and also popularizing the game."

Karnataka is not the first state to implement such steps to encourage children to recognise and establish their hidden talents. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have already implemented chess as a compulsory game in all government and government-aided schools. [Read: Brainstorming game Chess compulsory in Tamil Nadu schools]

The minster also directed the officials to follow the model adopted by Gujarat and Tamil Nadu in making chess a compulsory game for school children.

However, in Tamil Nadu, it has been reported that the strategy, which would be applicable from the next educational year, has been adopted following Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's announcement in Aug 2011 to start the practice in all government and government-aided schools.

OneIndia News