NEW DELHI: In its 16th year, the Delhi International Open – the country’s richest prize money chess event – offers Rs 777.7 million in prize money, a jump of more than Rs 2.1 million spread over 100 cash prizes in each of the three categories.
“We are already thinking of hosting the country’s first Rs 1-crore (Rs 10 million) prize-money event in January 2019,” Bharat Singh Chauhan, All India Chess Federation (AICF) secretary and president of the Delhi Chess Association (DCA), told The Hindu ahead of this year’s tournament, which begins here on January 9.
Chauhan asserted to the daily that while total expenditure for the event would touch Rs 20 million, the DCA was confident of breaking even.
“The idea is to put more money on offer for the players. In Delhi, we have four local tournaments each offering over ₹17 lakh as prize-money. We intend to make Delhi International Open one among the top 10-15 Open events in the world. This time, we have also planned lounges for Grandmasters and overseas players besides a place with 50 to 70 beds where the players from ‘B’ and ‘C’ categories can relax between rounds,” Chauhan said.
