CHENNAI: Internal fight in the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and the resultant confusion over authority have started affecting unexpected spheres. Both factions have received applications for Arjuna Award and forwarded them to the sports ministry. It’s up to the ministry now to decide whether to accept the nominations of one side, both sides or none.
The group headed by AICF president PR Venketrama Raja has received applications from Grandmasters SP Sethuraman, SL Narayanan and Women’s Grandmaster Bhakti Kulkarni.
The faction loyal to BS Chauhan has got applications from “two-three” players including India No 2 Vidit Gujrathi. It remains to be seen how many of these applications are entertained. The ministry said in the past it will not recognise anybody until elections are held.
Chauhan was removed from the secretary’s post by Raja in March. He and his group didn’t accept the decision and ousted Raja at an online meeting in April. The Raja group deems that meeting illegal.
The matter has to be sorted in court, which is not possible at the moment. As a result, it can’t be said with certainty who is the authorised custodian of chess in the country.
The players must have been confused by the state of affairs and that’s why both factions ended up receiving applications for Arjuna. Vijay Deshpande, who was appointed interim secretary after Raja suspended Chauhan, said he has forwarded three names. Naresh Sharma, head of a five-member committee formed to run AICF in the online meeting, informed that he has also submitted “two-three” applications he received.
Gujrathi is the fastest rising Indian on the international scene. Ranked 23rd in the classical format in the world, he is India No 2 after Viswanathan Anand and a strong candidate for Arjuna considering performance over the last year or so.
Sethuraman, the India No 6, finished second in the Aeroflot Open in Moscow in 2018, which comes under the period for consideration for the award. Narayanan won the Elllobregat Open in Spain last year. Kulkarni won the national women’s titles in 2018 and 2019.