Yerwada Central Prison in Pune hosted a unique chess event on Thursday, where inmates squared off against players and officials from the International Chess Federation (FIDE) as part of the second 'Chess for Freedom' conference.
The three-day event, organised in collaboration with FIDE and IndianOil, began on June 19 within the prison walls.
Officials and chess players from FIDE and IndianOil interacted with the prison's chess team, culminating in an engaging match.
This comes after the Yerwada Central Prison team clinched the gold medal at the Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners in October 2023, defeating a team from El Salvador.
The conference aims to provide chess training to inmates globally and organise competitions, with the goal of instilling confidence and demonstrating that inmates possess valuable skills for reintegration into society post-release.
"The idea is to build confidence among inmates, showing them that they possess valuable skills that can help them live with dignity in society after their release from prison," said an official.
Amitabh Gupta, Additional Director General (Prisons), announced plans to form similar chess teams in every prison in Maharashtra, encouraging participation from all inmates, including women.
Chess was introduced at the prison as an experiment last year, Gupta said.
"Within a year, it led to the organisation of this international conference," he said.
Special remission was granted to members of the gold medalist team from Yerwada as a gesture of encouragement.
Chess was introduced at the prison last year as an experiment and has since grown into an international event, with around 200 male and female inmates now learning the game under IndianOil's Parivartan program.
Mikhail Korenman, Social Commission Councilor of FIDE, praised the initiative, expressing privilege in meeting the winning team and participating in the conference.
"We are privileged to start our conference by meeting the winning team," he said.
Follow us
