CHENNAI: Six of India’s best chess stalwarts will go up against players from all around the world, in a bid to raise funds to fight the ongoing outbreak in the country. The event will be held on April 11 at 6.30pm. The event, organised by chess.com, will see Viswanathan Anand, Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, P Harikrishna, Vidit Gujrathi and B Adhiban in action.
“With over 100 games running concurrently across all simuls (simultaneous games), a time control of 45 minutes with a 45-second increment will be used across all games. To participate in the simul, players must have a chess.com blitz or FIDE standard rating of under 2000 and will be required to make a donation during the registration process,” chess.com said in a statement posted on their website. All proceeds from the tournament will be donated to the Prime Minister’s fund.
A chance to play World No 15 Anand, expectedly, is proving to be the biggest lure for players with just five spots left against him. A guaranteed game against Anand requires a donation of $150. However, a $25 contribution fetches the chance to play any two of the six Indian stars (one of whom may be Anand). “If you miss the cut-off, Anand will offer three additional boards for the top three largest donors during the stream on April 11,” the statement added.
“Please support the Indian Chess Community’s support towards COVID-19 relief,” Anand, who is in Germany, tweeted.Speaking to this newspaper, women’s World No 2 Koneru Humpy confirmed her participation in the event. “It’s on April 11,” she said. “I just received an email from Chess.com and accepted because it’s a charity event. It’s a fundraising event and the amount will be donated to the PM’s fund.”
“Anand asked if I was interested and I said yes because it is for a great cause,” said Gujrathi, who is currently World No 23. “Talks started shortly after the lockdown came into place. A lot of people were thinking how to contribute and this is a very good idea. It will be great if this initiative helps our efforts to fight this situation.”
I’m happy to be part of the initiative. It’s a good idea as the amount collected will go for a good cause. I’m sure chess fans will support the initiative. It’s a good idea to have Anand. It could be once in a lifetime opportunity to play against a world champion,” said Adhiban.