Critical Analysis of Premchand’s "Chess Player" and Evaluation of his Place in Modern Indian Story Writing

Story and novel writing have been a traditional legacy of India and they have been a part of Indian culture. Story writing has a pronounced past and an equally impeccable present. Epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana as well as fables like the Panchtantra are acclaimed as the heritage of glorious works of literature across the world. Persian, Urdu and Hindi languages are very closely linked languages which have been influenced by each other and have mutually benefited. Among the great modern story writers in India, Premchand (1880-1936) is one of the most famous writers in Hindi and Urdu. His works are not only popular in the Indian sub-continent including Pakistan but also are famous in the western countries too. Premchand is one of the realist Indian modern story writers in Hindi and Urdu languages. He left a mark and produced great literary works including short-stories, novels, and drama. This article analyses the influence and impact of Premchand’s literary works and his place in modern Indian story writing. Research methodology employed for this article is analytical descriptive approach through a research of Premchand’s literary works especially his famous story “chess player”. Literary critics believe that Premchand’s literary works have had an impact on other great writers of his time and later ones too. Therefore he deserves to be accorded a special place in the literary world. In short, the results of the research show that Premchand is renowned for his original realist writing style and strong position against colonization and thereby he has influenced many modern Indian story writers.