CHENNAI: The All India Chess Federation (AICF) plans to host more international tournaments in India to ensure that its top players get adequate world-class exposure, its president Nitin Narang said on Sunday.
Narang said that since all the top players in the country may not get the opportunity to play in every major tournament every year, the AICF will soon start its own international 'super tournaments', although he did not give details.
"It (Super Tournament) will have a reservation for a certain number of Indian players, while we will also invite foreign players to participate, which will give these players the same experience at a lower cost," Narang said in an interview. He said, "After Indian players outperformed foreign players, after talking to some Indians it has come to light that there will be a limit on the number of Indians participating in some global tournaments."
Narang said the federation plans to host the maximum number of AICF-rated tournaments going forward."We are focusing on organizing AICF round-robin elite tournaments, where Indian players will compete with each other. Overall, these tournaments will help in organizing more tournaments in the country."AICF is investing Rs. Used to be. According to its recent announcement, Rs 65 crore will be contributed to the sport which will be the largest planned budget in the history of the federation.
Asked how the AICF would raise the planned budget, Narang revealed that an initial commitment of Rs 25 crore had already been made from sponsors."We have already committed Rs 25 crore from sponsors for five years and the contract process is already underway. This is a huge success because this much money has never come in the history of the AICF," he said. , "But, this is just the beginning. The project cost of Rs 65 crore for the coming three years will be easily met with the help of the corporates who have been supporting chess for some time now."
The AICF chief also said that when it comes to prize money, there will be discrimination between male and female players, with equal pay for all genders.He said, "In our approach, we are not differentiating the prize money between men and women. Our announcement includes a national contract for the top three players in different categories, with the contract amount being the same for men and women. "The same is true for the Top 20 Rated Players awards that we announced recently. We will continue with this consistent approach."
He said that the federation will work on strengthening the existing infrastructure of the game in the country, besides helping the chess ecosystem at large.The AICF on Saturday announced several new key initiatives that it will implement over the next three years to transform the sporting landscape in the country. Narang said it will all start at the district level, followed by making the sport a part of the curriculum in schools. Apart from this, AICF Retin system will also be implemented.
“We are focusing on strengthening the infrastructure, starting with district associations in every district of the country. Secondly, we are looking at implementing chess in every school in all the states across the country, not only In the current education module but also to implement the e-learning module.“Third, we have a long-term vision of having district-level chess academies, this will enable us to nurture the chess talent pool from schools to the district level.” Besides this, we also plan to introduce the AICF rating system. "Many players are playing at the amateur level, but we cannot keep an eye on them and their performance because they do not play in FIDE-rated tournaments."
He said that having an AICF rating system would allow players to be rated, which would allow more AICF tournaments to be held. It will also allow the chess ecosystem to flourish across the country.Although there are a lot of chess academies in India, most of the famous academies are in Chennai. On the same note, Natang said that the AICF has immediately set up over 700 standardized academies across the country, apart from taking help from the corporate sector. Plans have been made to start at least 20 academies.
"Twenty online academies will be started by AICF in collaboration with reputed coaches and grandmasters. The process and applications will be started for GMs to join these academies," he said.
“Once we get the AICF rating, we will fund the top 20 players in each age group on the basis of gender.This amount will be given as grant-in-aid to these academies and coaches. This way, we will be able to directly support around 320 players, and this will be implemented immediately. “Also, we would like to enter more district-level academies with the help of the corporate sector. We will also seek their help in standardizing the academies in the districts and aim to open and run 753 such academies soon."
Narang said that since all the top players in the country may not get the opportunity to play in every major tournament every year, the AICF will soon start its own international 'super tournaments', although he did not give details.
"It (Super Tournament) will have a reservation for a certain number of Indian players, while we will also invite foreign players to participate, which will give these players the same experience at a lower cost," Narang said in an interview. He said, "After Indian players outperformed foreign players, after talking to some Indians it has come to light that there will be a limit on the number of Indians participating in some global tournaments."
Narang said the federation plans to host the maximum number of AICF-rated tournaments going forward."We are focusing on organizing AICF round-robin elite tournaments, where Indian players will compete with each other. Overall, these tournaments will help in organizing more tournaments in the country."AICF is investing Rs. Used to be. According to its recent announcement, Rs 65 crore will be contributed to the sport which will be the largest planned budget in the history of the federation.
Asked how the AICF would raise the planned budget, Narang revealed that an initial commitment of Rs 25 crore had already been made from sponsors."We have already committed Rs 25 crore from sponsors for five years and the contract process is already underway. This is a huge success because this much money has never come in the history of the AICF," he said. , "But, this is just the beginning. The project cost of Rs 65 crore for the coming three years will be easily met with the help of the corporates who have been supporting chess for some time now."
The AICF chief also said that when it comes to prize money, there will be discrimination between male and female players, with equal pay for all genders.He said, "In our approach, we are not differentiating the prize money between men and women. Our announcement includes a national contract for the top three players in different categories, with the contract amount being the same for men and women. "The same is true for the Top 20 Rated Players awards that we announced recently. We will continue with this consistent approach."
He said that the federation will work on strengthening the existing infrastructure of the game in the country, besides helping the chess ecosystem at large.The AICF on Saturday announced several new key initiatives that it will implement over the next three years to transform the sporting landscape in the country. Narang said it will all start at the district level, followed by making the sport a part of the curriculum in schools. Apart from this, AICF Retin system will also be implemented.
“We are focusing on strengthening the infrastructure, starting with district associations in every district of the country. Secondly, we are looking at implementing chess in every school in all the states across the country, not only In the current education module but also to implement the e-learning module.“Third, we have a long-term vision of having district-level chess academies, this will enable us to nurture the chess talent pool from schools to the district level.” Besides this, we also plan to introduce the AICF rating system. "Many players are playing at the amateur level, but we cannot keep an eye on them and their performance because they do not play in FIDE-rated tournaments."
He said that having an AICF rating system would allow players to be rated, which would allow more AICF tournaments to be held. It will also allow the chess ecosystem to flourish across the country.Although there are a lot of chess academies in India, most of the famous academies are in Chennai. On the same note, Natang said that the AICF has immediately set up over 700 standardized academies across the country, apart from taking help from the corporate sector. Plans have been made to start at least 20 academies.
"Twenty online academies will be started by AICF in collaboration with reputed coaches and grandmasters. The process and applications will be started for GMs to join these academies," he said.
“Once we get the AICF rating, we will fund the top 20 players in each age group on the basis of gender.This amount will be given as grant-in-aid to these academies and coaches. This way, we will be able to directly support around 320 players, and this will be implemented immediately. “Also, we would like to enter more district-level academies with the help of the corporate sector. We will also seek their help in standardizing the academies in the districts and aim to open and run 753 such academies soon."
