India, Sept. 20 -- Atanu Lahiri travelled to Bhutan on a lark in 2005.

He thought it might be interesting to go somewhere where chess barely existed and see if he could do something about it.

He arrived alone in Thimphu and thought that if there were chess players anywhere in the country, sports journalists might know where to find them. He walked into the office of Kuensel, Bhutan's principal newspaper, introduced himself as a former Commonwealth champion from India and asked if there was any interest in setting up a chess federation. The journalists looked at him with some surprise.

Had he, they asked, received their email?

Lahiri hadn't.

Only a week earlier, they had been writing to chess players in other countries looking for som...