NEW DELHI: All India Chess Federation (AICF) on Monday announced the postponement of several national-level championships scheduled for this month in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country and the restrictions imposed by various states.
Among the tournaments put off are the national junior, sub-junior and national school championships.
The new dates for the events would be announced later, AICF said in a press release.
"Considering the new wave of the pandemic with another variant and the restrictions imposed by various states and agencies, AICF decided to postpone national championships scheduled for January 2022 (National Junior, National School & National Sub-Junior)," AICF Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said in the release.
The national junior championship (Under-20) was scheduled to be held in New Delhi from January 9 while the other events were slated for later in the month.
Players have the option of asking refund of entry fees paid or they can keep their registration active for the event on a later date, the release added.
"We greatly regret the decision taken due to a force majeure situation considering the health and difficulty of all stakeholders."
With 33,750 fresh cases, India's tally of COVID-19 active cases rose to 1,45,582.