World Chess Championship: India seriously exploring possibility of hosting Gukesh vs Ding Liren, says AICF chief | Chess News
Indian Chess Federation chief Nitin Narang has confirmed that there is serious consideration to hold the World Chess Championship final between China’s Ding Liren and contender D Gukesh.
The newly elected AICF office bearers wasted no time in unveiling a series of measures to popularize the sport, which is currently booming in India. In last month’s Candidates Chess Tournament, India was represented by five grandmasters – with Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi competing in the Open section, while Humpy Koneru and Vaishali Rameshbabu competed in the women’s event. India’s progress in recent years in the 64-square sport was highlighted by 17-year-old Gukesh winning the title and becoming the youngest World Chess Championship contender in history.
The question everyone is asking now is whether India will bid to host the World Chess Championship, which was last held in India in 2013 when Chennai witnessed Magnus Carlsen defeating Viswanathan Anand to become the world champion for the first time.
“We intend (to host the World Championships in India) and that is why we are exploring the possibility of bidding. We understand what this means for our nation and what it means for Gukesh. We are seriously exploring the possibility,” Narang, the newly elected president of AICF, told The Indian Express earlier this week.
“Once we have access to all the documents, we begin to evaluate the bid now that we have a form in front of us. There are many components involved in this, be it the commercial angle, the logistics and the management of everything. We are very, very seriously deliberating each component in detail. We will have clarity on this (the possibility of submitting a proposal) soon. Once we have this, we will be able to officially announce whether we will proceed with the bidding or if there are any challenges. Once we have a detailed understanding of each aspect, we can take a call on it.”
Apart from India, Singapore also bid to host the World Championship, which was organized in Astana, Kazakhstan last year when Liren defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi.
FIDE, the global governing body for chess, has said it will cost around $8.5 million (approximately Rs 70 million) to host the World Championship.
Talking about the costs that a host nation will incur to host the World Chess Championship, Narang said: “FIDE has given a figure of around US$8.5 million. But it also depends on the federation’s negotiating capacity. Many costs will be centered on what we can do. Maybe I can get a partner to take care of the accommodations, to take care of one aspect. Therefore, it would not be correct to say that US$8.5 million is the exact cost of hosting a World Chess Championship. What FIDE said is that $8.5 million is the cost that sponsors and organizers would incur as an expense.”
He also revealed that one of the AICF’s plans is to host elite tournaments in India. Currently there is only Tata Steel India Kolkata event which is a regular event. The Chennai Grandmaster, which boasted of being the strongest classical super tournament ever on Indian soil, was held for the first time last year, which helped Gukesh seal qualification for the Candidates.
AICF’s plans to popularize chess
The AICF also revealed its plans for the coming years to popularize the sport. For around 400 players already in the system, two-year contracts and cash rewards are offered.
“Players in seven age categories from under-7 to under-19 groups will be given two-year contracts with monthly payments (under-7 players will get Rs 20,000 while under-19 players will get Rs 50,000 per month). The top 20 FIDE ranked players will also receive cash rewards of up to Rs 25 lakh per year. And the condition that we will have for players to be eligible for this is that they play for Nacional,” said Narang.
Since getting quality training from grandmasters or elite coaches can come at a high price, Narang also said he wanted to support 20 online chess academies in various parts of India through donations. In this model, Narang said, grandmasters who have moved into coaching or elite coaches will also be helped to become entrepreneurs.
“The idea is not to employ these GMs or trainers, but rather to make them entrepreneurs. They will own their academies, but we will provide them with funding so they can also train the players we choose as part of this initiative. We will identify 20 players from each category from Sub7 to the senior category, in the male and female categories. So we will have 320 of these players training for free. These 320 players will be assigned to these 20 academies. As the AICF will fund the training of these 320 players, the players will not have to spend to train with GMs,” said Narang.
