CHENNAI: THE fourth edition of the Chennai Grand Masters, India's biggest elite Classical chess event, is set to be scaled back. The competition, scheduled to run for a week from July 16, will only comprise eight players (down from 10). The organisers are still working out on the Challengers section for the event but as of now, the working assumption is that this year's tournament will only consist of the Masters section.
Quantbox will return as the title sponsor but some of the persisting geopolitical issues have affected the tournament. With Chennai also not having the greatest connectivity to European cities, that has also thrown a spanner into the works. The packed nature of the calendar has also meant a truncated space to work with. But it's understood that the organisers didn't want to compromise on the quality of the field.
So, just like the first few years, the average rating of the roster will be above 2700 ELO. Like last year, it's learned that the tournament will be held in a hotel. The ticketing processes will begin in due course. There are plans to have a fan zone as well as allowing the paying public access to live commentary.
It's also understood that one of the big Chennai-based GMs will be part of the all-men elite field. One of the eight players, though, could be M Pranesh, who topped the Challengers section last year. In April, the teen was a vital member of the R Vaishali camp during her win at the women's Candidates in Cyprus.
GCL fights for calendar space with Olympiad
The fourth edition of the Global Chess League (GCL) will stay in India. But the franchise-based league, to be held in a south Indian city over the first two weeks of September, will have to fight with the Olympiad for space. It's why some of the players may have to choose if they want to be involved in the FIDE-approved league before flying out to Samarkhand to feature in the Olympiad, a blue-riband FIDE competition. As it stands, GCL is finishing on September 13 while the Olympiad is scheduled to start two days later.
