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Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika are among the strong 10-member team India will send for the upcoming edition of the Asian Games to be played in Hangzhou from September 23.
Two-time gold medallist Humpy and bronze medallist Harika will take part in the individual categories in the women’s section. The other members of the women’s team are R Vaishali, Vantika Aggarwal and Savitha Shri.
The men’s team comprises of Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh, P Harikrishna and R Praggnanandhaa.
Among the men’s participants, Gujrathi and Erigaisi are there in the individual categories.
All India Chess Federation (AICF) president Sanjay Kapoor sounded confident about India’s performance in Chess in the Asian Games.
“Nobody believed me when I said India will win medals at the Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram. But we ended up winning two medals last year,” Kapoor was quoted as saying.
It is pertinent to note that Chess is returning to Asian Games after 13 years.
It will be like the IPL: Sanjay Kapoor
The AICF is also working towards organizing the Indian Chess League in the month of December. The tendering process for the tournament is expected to start in the next 15 days. The championship is a franchise-based league, pretty similar to the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).
AICF president Sanjay Kapoor said:
“We have to change the face of Indian chess. It will be like the IPL. The AICF is also going to buy 6,000-7,000 chess boards to distribute to state associations.
“We have to change our mindset to grow. We have got to think about our lacunas, our shortcomings and we have to work on that all the time. In three years, we will not need any government funding,” he added.
The AICF president also talked about the roles that the legendary Viswanathan Anand is set to play in the growth and popularity of chess in the country.
“They are with us. Anand is a deputy president of (international chess federation) FIDE. He is always there with the federation (AICF). Anand is an icon and is face is very important for Indian chess,” Kapoor concluded.
