Not for the tennis tournament, not for the IPL galas, but this time for the most less-spoken game of chess – The World Chess Tournament will be taking place in Chennai next year, April-May. The entire sponsorship will be taken care of by the Tamil Nadu Government. Though the biddings are open till July, 31 it was India which bided on a great marginal difference against Russia and taken over the bid.
Chennai – Into the News again
A pact was made between the FIDE (World Chess Federation) and the AICF (All India Chess Federation) symbiotically. The deal was made in the presence of delegates from these two federations and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalitha. She gave an assurance that the event will take place with due care and security; the prize money is worth Rs. 11 crores and the total event worth being 20 crores.
After hosting a world-class event few months ago, The Commonwealth Games with quite a lot of distortions in the law-suit, the success of this Championship will fetch a good name for the country and also create rejuvenation for the game of chess.
The Face of Indian Chess, Vishwanathan Anand, has shifted to Chennai recently and is on cloud nine because of the fact that he will be playing at ‘Home’. He wishes that this will change the state of Indian Chess and create wonders in the records. He wishes to hold the defending champion record again; though he is currently World No. 2 there is great probability that he would clinch it!
Anand, (a four-time defending champion), Veselin Topalov, Gata Kamsky and Vladimir Kramnik are likely to be competing at the tournament.
Tags: AICF, All India Chess Federation, Chennai, Chess, FIDE, Vishwanathan Anand, World Chess Federation
