World chess champion, Viswanathan Anand has decided to launch NIIT Mind Champion Academy (NIIT-MCA) to promote chess among schoolchildren in Bihar on Thursday. The academy would provide chess infrastructure to schools for promotion of the mind game. The sate government would provide computers to registered school-level chess clubs as per its computerization program.

NIIT-MCA would initially cover 400 schools while more school would be covered after noting the success of the program. Viswanathan Anand, while addressing a function at the Indira Gandhi Planetarium, said, "For me, it is exciting. I dreamt of taking chess to states where it has not been played and also to rural areas. The launch of NIIT-MCA in Bihar is exciting. Chess helps academic performance, computers help academic performance and also chess. We need to use technology for chess and life."

The function was also attended by the deputy CM of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi and Human resources development minister, Hari Narayan Singh besides other state officials. Deputy CM hailed Anand, saying that he made the game a national phenomenon. Government would do its best to promote the game in Bihar. A new indoor stadium for chess is coming up at Kankerbagh.

Viswanathan Anand expressed satisfaction over the working of chess academies in Assam, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.