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The 58th edition of the Senior National Chess Championship, sponsored by the MPL Sports Foundation, will get underway at the Ganges Club in Kanpur on Friday. The tournament was formerly known as the National Premier Chess Championship.
Former chess champion Grandmaster B Adhiban of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) has been handed top billing in a strong field that includes young chess sensation Arjun Erigaisi.
Overall, 184 chess players from across the country, including 23 Grandmasters and 30 International Masters, will be in action in the week-long tournament. The All India Chess Federation (AICF) will organise the tourney.
Commonwealth chess champion Abhijeet Gupta, former national champions Karthikeyan Murali, Sethuraman SP, Lalith Babu MR and defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram will be vying for the top honours.
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Young talented chess players like Gukesh D, Abhimanyu Puranik and Aryan Chopra are the other top players taking part in the event.
Chess Nationals will be conducted under the Swiss system with 11 rounds
The championship will be conducted under the Swiss System with 11 rounds with a time control of 90 minutes, and 30 seconds increment from move 1. After roping in MPL Sports Foundation as the official sponsor for all national championships, the AICF has substantially increased the prize money for all nationals.
The top ten players in the event will be awarded cash prizes amounting to Rs 30 lakh. Out of that, six lakh will be given to the winner. Champion players will get a bonus of 25 points while deciding the Indian team for the World Chess Olympiad and Asian Games, which are scheduled later this year.
"We are trying to make chess even more popular throughout the country" - AICF
AICF national secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan addressed a press conference at the Ganges Club, the venue of the National Championship, on Thursday. He said:
“The way we have developed and taken steps to reach the district and state level competitions, we are trying to make chess even more popular throughout the country. The All-India Chess Federation is searching for talent in Chess through the ’Chess in Schools' program."
"The AICF is confident that promising players will come forward and bring laurels to the country. In other sports, Kanpur is remembered and referred to, then why not in the chess field, the mind game. Such competitions in cities will bring out players living in oblivion."
Chauhan added that it is not the players reaching out to the Federation, but the Federation reaching out to players from cities, towns and villages to give them better opportunities. He said in this regard:
“These same players will bring laurels to the country in the world of chess. We are interested, and keen efforts are on to add the Federation's Chess in Schools scheme to the curriculum."
The Secretary of UP Chess Sports Association AK Raizada said that for the first time, as many as 23 Grand Masters and 30 International Masters would take part in the event that will have increased prize money.
