'The Asian Chess Championship will give great exposure for young chess players. But the AICF is curtailing the number of Indian players with a strange rule.'
At a time when the organisers of the Asian Individual Chess Championships have not restricted the number of players from any one country, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) should not raise any new hurdles, said chess players and coaches.
The Asian Individual Chess Championships will be held between May 6 and 16 2025 at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
The top ten from the 2025 Asian Championship shall qualify for the 2025 World Cup and the top two from the 2025 Asian Women's Championship shall qualify for the 2025 Women's World Cup.
"The Asian Chess Championship is a mega event which will give a great exposure for young chess players. But the AICF is curtailing the number of Indian players with a strange rule," an International Master not wanting to be quoted by name fo this report complained to this correspondent.
As per the tournament regulations, a National Federation can send one official player in the Open and Women's section.
In addition, each National Federation may add extra players rated 2000 and above for the Open and 1800 and above for Women based on the May 1, 2025 FIDE Rating List.
Extra players will be responsible for the payment of their board and lodging through the organising committee.
"There is no restriction on the number of players from a country. In some open chess tournaments the organisers restrict the number of entries from a country. But in the case of the Asian Individual Chess Championship no such restriction is there," Bharat Singh Chauhan, Deputy President, Asian Chess Federation, said.
The medal winners at the National Chess Championship 2024 (Open) and National Women Chess Championship 2024 will be treated as official players, said AICF.
As regards the extra players, the AICF has stipulated additional conditions other than the cut off rating criteria 2000 for Open category and 1800 for women stipulated by the tournament organisers.
According to AICF, only those who had participated in the Over the Board National Chess Championships 2024 -- Open and Women's categories -- and finished in the top 50 can only participate in the Asian Individual Chess Championship.
The AICF has exempted Grandmasters, Woman Grandmasters, International Masters, Woman International Master from the participation in the National Championship to play in the upcoming Asian mega event.
"There are many young chess players with a FIDE rating of 2,000 and above in the Open segment and 1,800 and above in the women's segment who might have missed the Nationals due to various reasons," the afore-quoted International Master said.
The AICF should not restrict such players when they fulfil the norms laid down by the organisers of the Asian Individual Chess Championships.
Non-official players have to pay all the expenses -- visa fee, tournament entry fee, travel, boarding, lodging...
According to AICF the additional players have to pay Rs 166,920 (single room accommodation) or Rs 123,420 (double sharing accommodation). Accompanying persons have to pay Rs 140,820 (single room accommodation) and Rs 97,320 (double sharing accommodation).
Additional players and accompanying persons are required to make their own arrangements for visa and flight bookings, said AICF.
As per the FIDE/International Chess Federation's rating list the 100th ranked player has a rating of 2393.
So, the number of young Indian players who are rated above 2000 points will be in large numbers and AICF is preventing such players from having a shot at the Asian title.
"If the AICF had stipulated participation in the age category national championship for youngsters then there would be some logic. But stipulating the seniors national championship is not fair," a chess player said.
AICF officials were not available for comments.
Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
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