Chess Nuts

Akshaye Khanna and Katrina Kaif bonded big time over chess, on the sets of their film, Race. Akshaye, who is an avid chess player, taught Katrina how to play the game.

The actors on the sets of Race (Aksahye, Katrina, Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy) came upon a novel and intelligent way of passing time during breaks. They would often be spotted indulging in a good game of chess.

Says a source, "Akshaye Khanna and Katrina were very often seeing playing chess on the sets at Yashraj Studios. Sometimes, Saif and other co-stars would also join them. Katrina, however, was the most serious of the lot and under Akshaye's tutelage, she has picked up the game really fast."

Katrina says that she enjoyed exercising her mind. "Race has a huge star cast. We had to wait for long hours for our shots. Chess is the best way to kill time in between those shots. Playing chess exercises the mind brilliantly. It's a very healthy way of spending extra time," she says.

Although she's just started playing, Katrina says that she's learnt very quickly. She laughs, "I almost beat Akshaye at a game! I still have a long way to go. But I'm happy with my progress."

(Mumbai Mirror)