CHENNAI: Faction feud in the All India Chess Federation (AICF) has claimed an unexpected victim. Grandmaster RB Ramesh has resigned as chief of the three-member selection committee, following interference in selecting the team for the Online Chess Olympiad to be played from July 22 to August 30.
"I am basically a chess coach and want to focus on the progress of my students, rather than getting caught in the politics of the federation. There was some dispute in the selection process, which is one of the main reasons why I quit as a selector," Ramesh told The New Indian Express on Tuesday. He sent his resignation to both AICF factions and FIDE, the world governing body of chess.
While Ramesh refused to elaborate, the AICF faction headed by president PR Venketrama Raja claimed in a media release there was pressure from secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan’s side to include a "Delhi-based player". Names were not mentioned, but it is learnt the player is Tania Sachdev, India women’s No 4.
Tania would have made the cut as a second reserve (there are two main players in men's and women's plus two reserves each) going by her rating, but it is not the sole criterion. For the Online Olympiad, players are also required to have played at least nine games from October 2019 to March 2020. Tania didn’t tick this box. The women’s reserves slots went to Bhakti Kulkarni and R Vaishali.
This daily verified that Tania's selection was indeed the bone of contention. The selection committee pointed out that she doesn’t meet the requirement of playing a certain number of games in the period specified. This is done to ensure that players are active and adequately in touch with the game at the time of selection. According to sources, Ramesh quit after the Chauhan faction proposed Tania’s name multiple times.
Chauhan termed this a campaign to malign him. "I never interfered in selection. This is an attempt for cheap publicity (by the Raja faction). It is said I was trying to help a Delhi player. If trying to clarify certain things is a problem, then I don’t have any comments to make... From trainer to sponsor, I had everything lined up but now everybody is in a dilemma because of this interference by Raja," he said.
The Raja faction said Chauhan was trying to interfere in the selection process. "Mr Chauhan, who claims to be the AICF secretary, insisted on including the name of a Delhi player. When reminded by Ramesh that the player didn’t qualify on technical grounds, Mr Chauhan forwarded the confidential mails directly to the player concerned," said an AICF statement signed by 'acting' secretary Vijay Deshpande.
Raja had removed Chauhan from the secretary’s post in March and appointed Deshpande in his place. Chauhan has said this move is illegal. It can be noted that the sports ministry recognises him as secretary and Raja as president. At a recent meeting with the ministry, these two officials represented AICF.
Ramesh is the first prominent name caught in this crossfire between the sides going on for several months. Part of India’s Chess Olympiad teams in 1996 and 2002, he was coach of the sides in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. A number of India’s promising youngsters have come from his academy. Chauhan and Deshpande both said they have requested Ramesh to continue.
Men: Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Gujrathi (P Harikrishna, Arvind Chithambaram)
Women: K Humpy, D Harika, (Bhakti Kulkarni, R Vaishali)
Junior boys: Nihal Sarin (R Pragnanandhaa)
Junior girls: Divya Deshmukh (Vantika Agarwal).