Celebrating Freedom on 64 Squares: Ichalkaranji Hosts Its First ‘Big Chess’ Camp
A chance connection through a chess webinar eventually led to ChessBase India's Big Chess Camp making its way to Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra. On Independence Day, Rohit Pol and his team at Ken Chess Academy brought more than 80 children and chess enthusiasts together for a day of free chess learning, solving and discovery. From tactical themes and challenging positions to lessons in discipline, concentration and independent thinking, the camp captured the spirit of grassroots chess development. Rohit dreams of one day seeing a National Champion emerge from Ichalkaranji, and this could well be the beginning of that journey. We bring a detailed story.
From a Chance Connection to a Chess Camp!
Sometimes, a chess connection begins in an unexpected place. I first came across the name Ichalkaranji during one of my webinars on chess composition, Inside the Solver’s Mind. Among the participants was Rohit Pol, a chess coach from Ichalkaranji, a city in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district. Being the frog in a well that I am when it comes to geography, I had never heard of the place until then.
What began as a chance connection through an online chess webinar eventually turned into something much more tangible: a free chess camp for children and chess enthusiasts in Ichalkaranji, organised on Independence Day, 15 August 2026.
Together with Teach Chess India, ChessBase India has been conducting the Big Chess Camp for some time now, with editions held during both summer and winter. The idea behind the initiative is simple: to make structured chess learning accessible to as many people as possible, without participation fees becoming a barrier.
At the heart of the camp is a collection of chess exercise sheets. There are currently 45 sheets, divided into four levels, with material curated by chess enthusiasts, coaches, volunteers and other contributors to the initiative. The range is deliberately broad. A complete beginner can start with a sheet that introduces the basic movement of the pieces, while stronger players can take on considerably more challenging positions.
But the Big Chess Camp is about more than simply solving worksheets.
Participants are helped by volunteers to choose a sheet appropriate to their level and then work through the positions independently. Once they have completed a sheet, they bring their solutions to a volunteer for checking. If everything is correct, they move on to the next sheet. If they make a mistake, however, the answer is not simply handed to them. Instead, the volunteer nudges them in the right direction, helping them identify the mistake and discover the solution for themselves.
That is perhaps the most important idea behind the camp. The objective is not merely to teach children the answers to chess positions, but to make them think. To calculate. To recognise patterns. To make mistakes, learn from them and eventually find the solution on their own.
Lately, we have been expanding this initiative to other cities, and Rohit was keen to bring it to Ichalkaranji, where he runs his chess academy, Ken Chess Academy. I guided him through the basics of organising the camp, as well as the ethos of abundance that we try to build into these camps: anyone can walk in, pick up a sheet suited to their level and learn at their own pace. There is no pressure — they can do as much or as little as they choose.
Rohit and his team of coaches took up the challenge with heartening enthusiasm. By the end of the day, more than eighty participants had walked through the doors. Parents happily complained that their children continued working on the positions even after returning home!
It would be remiss not to acknowledge the selfless volunteers whose efforts helped make the camp a success. Atharv Tavare, Rudra Mane, Shrenik Desai, Karan Dabade, Siddhesh Vadde, Reshma Nalawade, Mayuresh Patil, Neha Hattalge and Vyapari Mahesh were among those who gave their time and energy to make the day possible.
More Than Just a Camp
After the camp, Rohit shared his reflections on the experience — and I think his words capture better than anything else what the day meant to the people who made it happen:
15 August 2026. 8 a.m.
I walked into Dr. Dilip Lalasaheb Deshmukh Hall with a chessboard, a clock and one thought in my mind: I wanted the children to take away something from the day that went beyond chess.
Under the Learn Play India – Win India initiative of ChessBase India, Ken Chess Academy, Ichalkaranji organised the Free Big Chess Independence Camp 2026. What followed was a few hours of chess, but also a few hours of something much more valuable — thinking, learning, sharing and making decisions for oneself.
The hall filled up quickly. Children in their orange T-shirts sat down with pens in hand and puzzle sheets in front of them, ready to solve. During the Learn + Solve session, concepts such as zwischenzug, pins, forks and skewers stopped being abstract chess terminology. They became real problems to solve on the board.
But perhaps what impressed me most was what happened away from the chessboard.
For nearly two hours, not a single child touched a mobile phone. There were no distractions — just children thinking, calculating and searching for the next move. In a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold a child's attention for even a few minutes, watching them remain absorbed in chess was deeply satisfying.
And then came a lesson that had nothing to do with chess.
A couple of students misplaced their pens and water bottles during the camp. Within minutes, the missing belongings had been found and returned by their fellow students. Nobody made a big deal of it. They simply did the right thing.
Later, one parent told me that her son had continued solving chess puzzles on the board even after returning home.
Those moments made me realise that the real success of a camp like this cannot be measured by the number of sheets completed or positions solved. Chess teaches us that sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. But the habits we develop along the way — discipline, honesty, patience, concentration and the confidence to think for ourselves — are victories that stay with us far beyond the chessboard.
The camp officially ended at 2 p.m. But even then, the children were reluctant to leave.
“Sir, one more puzzle!”
That became the refrain of the afternoon.
Eventually, we gathered everyone for a group photograph in front of the camp banner. Looking at all those children in their orange T-shirts, I couldn't help but think: This is our Team India.
It was Independence Day, and the occasion gave the camp an added meaning for me. Independence is not only about celebrating a historic day or standing beneath a flag. In its simplest form, independence is also about learning to think for yourself, make your own decisions and take responsibility for your choices.
And what better place to practise that than on the 64 squares?
For Ken Chess Academy, this is only the beginning. We hope to organise such camps regularly and create more opportunities for children in Ichalkaranji to discover the joy of chess. And perhaps, one day, one of these young players will go on to become a National Champion.
But for now, I am happy with something much simpler. On 15 August, a hall in Ichalkaranji was filled with children thinking deeply about their next move. That, in itself, felt like a victory!
The Day in Pictures
Perhaps, the images that follow capture something of the spirit behind Rohit’s words: the camaraderie, the passion, the dream!
Chess in India is often viewed through the lens of its grandest stages: the Olympiads, elite tournaments, Grandmasters and international events. Those are an important part of the chess ecosystem, and naturally receive considerable attention. But the growth of the game cannot depend only on what happens at the top. There are countless children and chess enthusiasts in rural areas and smaller cities and towns who may not have access to the same opportunities available in the country's established chess centres. Taking chess to these communities, making learning resources accessible and creating an environment in which children can discover the game for themselves is equally important. That is one of the broader objectives of ChessBase India: alongside covering elite chess, to contribute to the development of the game at the grassroots level and help make chess accessible to people from different backgrounds and different parts of the country.
Ichalkaranji may not be one of the first Indian cities that comes to mind when one thinks about chess. But on 15 August, more than 80 people gathered there to spend an entire day solving chess positions, learning tactical ideas and engaging with the game. And perhaps that is how chess grows — not only through grand events and famous names, but through people like Rohit Pol, who take an idea and bring it to their own community.
Rohit dreams of one day seeing a National Champion emerge from Ichalkaranji. We wish him, his team and the young players they are nurturing all the very best and hope that ChessBase India can continue to be a small part of that journey.
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