The Hindu : Sport / Chess : AICF to take action against Gopal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 18, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Chess

AICF to take action against Gopal

P.K. Ajith Kumar

MANGALORE: Grandmaster G.N. Gopal’s decision to skip the 46th National ‘A’ chess championship, which got under way at the Karnataka Bank Auditorium here on Wednesday, could prove costly. The All India Chess Federation (AICF) is planning to take disciplinary against the player.

The AICF secretary D.V. Sundar told The Hindu on telephone from Chennai that the federation was left with no option but to take action against the player.

“We had clearly instructed him to play in the National ‘A’ championship but he has decided to play in some tournament abroad instead,” he said.

Mr. Sundar added that no player could stay out of the National ‘A’ championship without taking permission from the AICF.

“And no Indian player can play in any tournament abroad without the AICF’s permission either,” he explained. “Neither have we given Gopal permission to skip the National ‘A’ or play in any tournament outside the country. We had also warned him that action would be taken if he doesn’t play at the National ‘A’.”

Show maturity

Mr. Sundar said Gopal should show more maturity. “In the past too, he has missed out on some tournaments that he was instructed to play by the AICF, citing some excuses, but we had ignored those issues,” he said.

Meanwhile, the first round of the championship was delayed by a few hours because the players requested the organisers for more time to prepare for their game after they were given the pairing.

Because of Gopal’s withdrawal, one player will get a bye in each of the 13 rounds; veteran GM, Praveen Thipsay, was the beneficiary on the opening day.

The tournament concludes on December 30.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport