CHENNAI: The All India Chess Federation (AICF) will merge India’s two National championships — the Challengers and the Premiers.
Instead of a qualifier, the AICF will hold only the National senior championship from next year, according to a decision taken by the central council of the AICF at a meeting over the weekend, reports the Hindu. The Premiers (it used to be called National-A earlier) has now been scrapped. “Besides there has been a lot of confusion among the State Governments about the two separate National championships for chess,” the AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan told The Hindu . “It is a relief for the organisers, too.”
It was also decided that the Indian team for events like the Olympiad and the World championships would be selected based on the Elo ratings; the ranking attained at the National championships will have no impact. However, the National men’s and the women’s champion will be awarded bonus points of 50 and 25.
The prize money too has been enhanced, with the men’s championship having a total prize fund of Rs two million, and the women’s championship a fund of Rs 1.5 million.
