NIIT asks Indians to #Wish4Vishy

The digital initiative enables every Indian to cheer for Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand as he defends his title in the World Chess Championship, 2013, in Chennai.

We Indians, do this all the time. Before every cricket match India plays, we pray our hearts out and send wishes to the players and the team. Probably it is time where we do the same for our other sporting superstars.

NIIT Limited, one of Asia's largest IT trainers, has unveiled #Wish4Vishy, a national campaign to enable every Indian to cheer for the reigning World Chess Champion Viswanathan (Vishy) Anand. Anand will take on challenger World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen at the World Chess Championship 2013, to be held on November 7-28 in Chennai.

The initiative involves sending in best wishes to Anand over NIIT's social platforms for the World Chess Championship. Being run on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Vine, :#Wish4Vishy offers an opportunity to every Indian to take pride in Vishy's achievements and wish him good luck before the forthcoming World Chess Championship. The best entries stand a chance to win free tickets during the World Chess Championship 2013, and special gifts on every alternate day for the best expressed wish.

For this, the company has also launched a microsite, Wish4Vishy.com that will be the hub of all the wishes pouring in. There is an Instagram feed, Twitter feed, Facebook feed as well as wishes coming in straight from the microsite that would be visible.

Anand has been associated with NIIT for nearly 15 years now. NIIT MindChampions' Academy (MCA), a not-for-profit joint initiative that was started by NIIT and Anand to promote chess in schools, has today touched 1.65 million children in over 17,000 schools cumulatively, across the country. Over the years, MCA has not only enabled schools to use chess as an academic tool but has also made it possible for Vishy, personally, to take the legacy of chess to children across India.

Speaking on the #Wish4Vishy initiative, G Raghavan, chief executive, career building solutions, NIIT, says, "It is a matter of immense pride for every Indian that five-time World Champion and NIIT MindChampion Vishy Anand will be defending his world title at his home ground in Chennai, this November. Therefore, we have specially put together the #Wish4Vishy movement to give every Indian an opportunity to cheer for Vishy and be a part of this excitement."

Born in Chennai, Anand has won the World Champion's title five times. He is the only person in the history of chess to have won a world championship title in all formats - match, knock-out and tournament. It is his success in the world scene that has made this ancient Indian game a mass sport in India.

The NIIT MindChampions' Academy (MCA), a not-for-profit initiative, has been set up as a joint initiative by Anand and NIIT Limited with the objective of promoting chess in schools to enable development of young minds. Studies have shown that chess improves concentration and diligence, and thus helps students perform better academically.