Fide Anthem Writer's Great Grandson wants to Design Chess Trophies

This artist-guitarist has his choices clear: On a carefree evening, he'd rather grab a game of chess than a cup off coffee! However, creative Frenchman Arnaud Berman loves old objects and finds coffee grinders "very pretty and elegant." So, he turns them into chess sets!

Arnaud, as an artist, has focused on creating art works and sculptures, mainly in low relief, with chess as the theme, for more than five years now. His sculptures, particularly in bronze, stand out with a mystical depth and would surely make much-coveted trophies in the chess world! That's what he wants to do next. 

Marcel Berman

Arnaud's love for chess has a genesis. He is the great grandson of Marcel Berman, president of the French Chess Federation 1955-1958. Marcel Berman went on to become vice-president of Fide and also wrote the lyrics of the Fide anthem! 

Arnaud has taken forward the creativity of his ancestor. He says, "I am reaching out to Fide to use my designs for trophies and awards especially in this year of the Century of Fide. I am also looking forward to having my work exhibited across the world in museums and shows. 

That's not all. Arnaud has travelled quite a bit including to India. His polaroids are a treat. He says, "I love India and all my travels there were important in my life. I am an analog photographer and made pictures in Benares and Gokarna mainly."

You can see some photographs of India on his website: https://www.arnaudberman.com/benares#1

Instagram @the.chess.artist

Facebook: Arnaud Berman

Arnaud lives in the countryside in Normandy, near the forest and the sea. There are some chess clubs in the cities nearby. "I am not so far from Rouen, where my great grand father was living. That's where the famous chess club is."

There's more to Arnaud — he's the lead guitarist of a funk band called BIMP. He laughs, "I'm into groovy instrumental music. I like to compose stuff. You can say music that sounds a bit like soundtracks of detectives series from the 70's."

Where does all this creative inspiration come from? The Frenchman has a ready answer: "I get my inspiration by keeping space for it. I believe everyone has art inside. I decided to invest in that potential,to be available for its development in me, to let it grow. It made my finance unsure, my inner peace very strong."

Three cheers for Arnaud Berman and hopefully your next trophy will be a Berman Design!

— Naveen Karthikeyan

Guess who? 

Arnaud Berman presenting one of his art world to Super Grandmaster & Candidate 2024 Alireza Firousja.
All photos (c) Arnaud Berman

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India, France have Highest Number of Rated Chess Players in the World

India has just moved up to join France as the No. One ranked chess nation in terms of FIDE rated players. India rose to 35,200, and this number will be moving back and forth in the next few days until November when India is expected to be No. One.

Strangely, 35,200 is the same as France, the leader for over ten years. But India is growing steeply and France moderately. This had to happen. This week, one can expect India to surge ahead of the French number and never look back! Asia set to rule world chess.

About four decades back, India had just Manuel Aaron on the rating list. People still remember him since his name was the first entry in the rating list for many decades. For many years he was the only Indian and later among the few Indians.

Since, Anand won the World Junior in 1987 and then went on to became World Champion in Tehran 2000, the numbers tended to grow sharply. More players took to the game in the summer of 2001 and the progress kept growing.

Anand might be the primary cause for all this but the organisers, particularly, the All India Chess Federation did plenty of ground work. Rated events were organised all over the country and particularly more in the state of Tamil Nadu, Anand's home state.

In Europe, when Veselin Topalov emerged, Bulgaria's mobile networks supported elite events. In India it was even more basic. NIIT together with many state Governments supported school chess. On its part, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu went several steps ahead and cleared the way for chess in schools programme. Children in the age group 7-17 play chess in Tamil Nadu. Many states have chess in schools programme, but Tamil Nadu is one step ahead. They also practically implement it.

Two years back, India had overtaken the Germans and the Russians in the rating list. Earlier this year, the Indians went past Spain. Now, when experts were expecting India to get the better of France around March 2014, this sudden surge in the chess activity related to the world championship has helped India go past or equal France in October.

India's growth style is pyramid. The base is broad. A recent study related article in The Economist said more Indians play chess than any other nation. This number comes as no surprise. But that it came a few months ago needs to be analysed, since we might be observing a 2013 wave on the back of this Anand v Carlsen match, which could be several times bigger than the 2001 Anand wave after he won the world title in 2000.

The AICF and its administrators have laid a perfect platform for chess to grow in the land which invented the game. Our style will soon be copied by leading lights and European nations. Anand is in his final phase of preparation and not available to react to this good news. "It is all team effort," said V. Hariharan, Honorary Secretary of the All India Chess Federation while reacting to this news. "This is great news," said Bharat Singh, CEO of the AICF. D.V. Sundar, Vice President of FIDE was delighted about the timing of this achievement as India is making the final touches to the organising of the Anand v Carlsen match from Nov 7-28. (AICF Press Release – 28.10.2013)

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