It is all about mind games and intricate moves on a black and white chequered board in this scenic Kerala village where chess is a passion - and where residents say each move made in life is also deeply thought out.

A walk through the village, 20 km from Kerala's cultural capital Thrissur, is enough to reveal its zeal for the game with groups of people, young and old, seen huddled over chessboards right from early morning till late in the evening.

The abiding saga of chess and this forested village, where the main occupation is agriculture and where many are also casual labourers, started two decades ago when teashop owner C. Unnikrishnan got interested in the game.

"I can proudly say without any doubt that unlike other villages in Kerala, ours is one where there is more peace. And this is because 80 percent of the nearly 1,200 households are avid chess players," Unnikrishnan told .
He shuts shop around 6 p.m. and then chess takes over from the business of making and serving tea.

"I have around 30 chessboards in my shop. By evening people start arriving and on certain days all 30 chessboards are booked. The game extends till 9 p.m.," he said happily.

One such aficionado is 35-year-old auto-rickshaw driver A. Raju.

"Certainly, playing chess has made people in our small village more patient and peaceful. This is because chess is a mind game and a lot of thinking goes before making each move on the chessboard. This has translated into our daily lives as well," said Raju, who makes sure that he plays three or four games every day.

Besides Unnikrishnan's teashop, another hub is the Friends Arts and Sports Club where dozens of people of varying ages get busy planning and plotting their moves.

There are no gender divides when it comes to the game. Women in the village are pleased as well with the peace that reigns with the pawn and the knights.

Said homemaker Daisy, 34, who helps run a shop with her tailor husband: "Every day we have at least three or four rounds of chess. Sometimes, I play with my friends who come over or with my husband. We have taught our six-year-old son also the basics of the game, and he too is happy."

There are no grandmasters yet, but the future holds enough promise in this village with its unique obsession with the mind game.