A chess bet with Aamir Khan

by Sagar Shah - 14/03/2022

It's no secret that Aamir Khan loves chess. But with the kind of busy schedule that he has it is very rare for him to find time for the sport. A few days ago, he was drawn to a game of chess by P. Prachura - a strong former chess player with an Elo of 2125 and a current entrepreneur. But this game of chess had a twist attached to it. If Aamir won or lasted for 35 moves, he could ask Prachura to do one thing for him, and that could be anything! If Prachura won, he would secure Aamir's presence at his wedding, whenever that would be. It was a high stakes chess game and Prachura played it blindfolded! Check out what happened and who came out on top!

This picture of Bollywood superstar with Prachura P. has a wonderful story to it.

Prachura has been a huge support to our chess community. An entrepreneur now, Prachura was a strong chess player in his younger days. In the recent times he has helped many chess players to resolve their visa issues among other things.

Coming back to the story - Prachura, who lives in Bangalore, was in Mumbai for some work. His flight back to Bangalore was at 7.30 p.m. and he had still some hours left in the city. He decided to contact Bollywood Superstar Aamir Khan. The last time he was in touch with him was for the chess.com India fundraiser that Prachura had helped to organize. This would be the first time that Prachura would get to meet Aamir in person. Although Aamir was shooting for his upcoming film, he found time to meet Prachura. He asked him to come to the set.

The first thing Prachura remembers when he met Aamir was his warmth. From a distance the superstar waved to him, just like a close friend. Aamir had no airs about himself. Even when they entered the vanity van, Aamir asked Prachura to climb in first and then closed the door behind him! A thorough gentleman!

In a few minutes, Aamir went to the set and introduced Prachura to the entire team. When the shoot was done, they retired back to the vanity van. At some point, Prachura mentioned about chess and Aamir's eyes immediately lit up! Prachura had got Aamir a wooden chess set as a gift and so they set it up for a game. But Prachura, who is a seasoned player, suggested a twist here. He would play blindfolded (not seeing the board) and if he checkmated Aamir in 35 moves or less, Aamir would have to come to his wedding, whenever that would be!

Aamir smiled and agreed, but made sure the deal also had an important clause - "What if I won?" asked Aamir. Prachura was not ready for this. He asked Aamir to suggest. Aamir said, I will ask something to you if I win and you will have to give it to me! Prachura knew that if he lost, he would be in trouble, but he believed in himself and his chess abilities and agreed to Aamir's clause! Everything was in place. Before starting the game, the perfectionist that he is, Aamir called his manager and director and asked them to count the moves!

Aamir had the white pieces and played an excellent opening. He made no real mistakes and in no time they had reached close to 20 moves! Prachura was worried! Aamir was not going to let go of him easily if he didn't mate him in 35 moves! At the same time Aamir was thinking with great care and not giving Prachura an inch! Not being able to see the board was also not helping either. Just when it seemed that Prachura might not be able to finish the game in 35 moves, Aamir blundered! This gave Prachura a mating attack! At a crucial juncture Aamir had a choice to move his king to two squares. One of them would have made the game last beyond 35 moves, but Aamir chose the other square and Prachura managed to win the game in 34 moves! What a thriller!

Prachura wiped the sweat from his forehead. With a smile on his face he told Aamir, "Now you will have to come to my wedding!" With a cheeky look, the Bollywood superstar said, "Prachura, I would have anyway come to your wedding if you had asked me to, why did you have to go through so much tension!" The two laughed heartily and with a warm hug parted ways. "It was a great memory for me", says Prachura! Aamir's humility and love for chess floored me. He adores the game so much that he loses the track of time when he plays it!" Prachura won the game and the bet, but Aamir won Prachura's admiration forever!

This story was narrated to the author by Prachura P.