The Hindu : AICF to launch academy in May

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 03, 2003

Sport

Sport - Chess

AICF to launch academy in May

By A. Vinod

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM April 2. The proposed International Chess Academy in Kozhikode, a dream project of the All India Chess Federation, will be formally inaugurated in the third week of May.

Disclosing this to The Hindu here on Wednesday, the AICF secretary, Mr. P.T. Ummer Koya, hoped that the launching of the Academy would provide an added impetus to the growth of the sport in the country. The Academy will function from a rented building, measuring 15,000 square feet, in the outskirts of Kozhikode town for the time being before moving over to a permanent premises within the next four-five years.

``We have already a talent pool of around 200 players in the age-groups of 7 to 16 years and if we wait until everything is in place, then we would be simply wasting time. And with it, the current crop of players, who are so talented to enable AICF achieve its vision of having 100 Indian Grandmasters within the next 10 to 12 years.''

The Academy, he said, would offer the best of facilities to the players who after its formal launch would be able to train round the year with the assistance of AICF-appointed coaches from among the senior International Masters in the country.

The facilities at the Academy would include an electronic chess board for lecture-demonstrations, a computer library with the various databases in operation, a reading room possessing chess literature, newspapers and magazines and recreational facilities besides lodging for 80 players at any given time.

The AICF secretary said the operating costs of the Academy would run to slightly over Rs. l lakh per month at current rates and would be met by the Federation through sponsorship. Besides this, the AICF has also budgeted Rs. 5 crores for the completion of the project at a permanent premises.

He said the AICF was hopeful of training 1,000 players, in batches, in a calendar year at the Academy and this would include the various Indian teams prior to their participation in international tournaments.

Besides providing training, the schedule of which is to be fixed by a panel of Grandmasters and International Masters, the Academy will conduct week-end tournaments for the trainees which would help the coaches to analyse the games of their wards and discuss with them the shortcomings in their pattern of play.

Further, the Academy will also be hosting FIDE-rated tournaments on a regular basis and an international tournament every year. ``This will help the trainees to overcome the burden of training and provide a competitive atmosphere to sharpen their individual skills.''

The Academy will also run two courses side-by-side. The first will be meant for those senior players interested to take up coaching as a profession and the second for those interested in officiating. The certificate course in coaching will overcome the lack of a programme to train coaches in the country while the arbiters' course will enable the proper conduct of tournaments under FIDE rules.

Subject to the permission from the Government, the AICF has also plans to allow players and officials from the neighbouring countries to take part in the two courses at a later stage.

Yet another novelty included in the priorities of the Academy is a mass-contact-programme which should help the AICF to identify talent at a young age. Accordingly, the Academy will launch a mobile training unit for kindergarten students.

A pilot project on this would be run in Kozhikode during the next academic year. 12 persons are currently under training to man the mobile unit and the work on a picture book, enabling children to understand the chess pieces and the game as such, is going on simultaneously.

The project, if found successful, would then be introduced in other districts of the country in a phased manner.

The AICF has also decided to launch a National lightning championship in connection with the inauguration of the Academy.

This will be held in Kozhikode and will offer a total prize fund of Rs. 55,000.

The introduction of the new tournament will also raise the number of National championships being conducted by the AICF annually to 40, according to Mr. Koya.

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

Sport