CHENNAI: The All-India Chess Federation announced on Tuesday that the inaugural edition of Indian Chess League — a six-team franchise-based meet — will be held in June 2022. The league will take place over two weeks with a double round-robin format in one or two cities with the top two teams competing in the final. Each team will have eight players — 2 Super GMs, 2 Indian GMs, 2 Women GM and one Junior Indian boy and girl each.
The criteria for becoming a franchise owner will be announced shortly, said AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan. “The idea is to not only draw the best players from around the world but also to provide India’s players a formidable platform to sharpen their skills. We have already received a good response from corporates,” he said.
Partnering with Gameplan Sports Private Limited — the official and exclusive rights holder to organise, promote and market the league — Chauhan revealed that AICF is planning to live-stream all the matches to draw more and more players to chess. AICF president Dr Sanjay Kapoor said that their dream is coming true.” The Indian Chess League is going to change the face of chess in the country. It will help us attain our goal of becoming World No. 1 in the near future,” Kapoor added.
AICF’s press release said that the prize money in the national championships has been increased, with MPL as the main sponsor. “The AICF is also close to realising its Chess in Schools project, with the sport set to be introduced as part of the curriculum in schools across the country,” the release read.