The Hindu : Sport / Chess : India to host Commonwealth chess

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007
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India to host Commonwealth chess

DINDIGUL: India will host three official international chess tournaments this year. The All India Chess Federation (AICF) secretary D.V. Sundar told The Hindu here on Monday that the country would host the Commonwealth, Asian junior and Asian team championships.

"The Commonwealth championship will be held during November-December in New Delhi, while the Asian juniors will be conducted in Mumbai in August," Sundar said. "The Asian team championship will be held in Visakhapatnam."

He said the AICF would also be conducting a National school championship. "It would be an annual affair and each State could field one team. This, I feel, would help popularise the sport in schools. There are States, like Tamil Nadu for instance, which already have chess coaches at schools."

Sundar said that from this year onwards not everyone could represent India at the World age-group tournaments, as `special entries' (paying an additional fee) unlike in the past.

"You will have to play in the National championship first and then you will have to finish inside the top 10 if you want to play in the World championship. In the past, many children skipped the Nationals — many of them over-aged — and went straight to the World event and obtained certificates of their participation, which could be used to gain admission to courses under sports quota. This practice has to stop." — Principal Correspondent

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