THE ANDHRA PRADESH government’s order of October 27, banning online gaming sites to restrict betting, has had the chess playing fraternity up in arms, as the website chess.com is one among the 132 websites blocked in the state.
The Chess Players Forum (CPF), an association of chess players in India, planned to send a letter Wednesday to the Andhra Pradesh government seeking removal of the ban on the website, reports TNIE. Some prominent chess players from the state were expected to endorse the letter.
Chess.com offers free registration and has some 40 million users. Some of its features are available for free, some require subscriptions. Analysis, puzzles and teaching materials are also offered. It has hosted tournaments including this year’s Online Chess Olympiad and Online Nations Cup.
In a recent amendment of the AP Gaming Act, the Andhra government banned 132 websites to prevent online gaming, gambling and betting.
In a letter to Ravi Shankar Prasad (Union minister for communications, electronics and information technology) dated October 27, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote: “We have amended the AP Gaming Act, 1974 to include online gaming, online gambling and online betting as an offence through Andhra Pradesh (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 which was notified on 25th September 2020.”
