The aim, according to a top functionary of the associaion, is to improve the standard of the game in India and performance of the players abroad.
Chess body plans changes to criteria for Olympiad and National championship
MUMBAI: The All-India Chess Federation is believed to be initiating some drastic reforms. The aim, according to a top functionary of the associaion, is to improve the standard of the game in India and performance of the players abroad.
A proposal to make Elo rating as criteria for the selection of the Olympiad teen will come up for discussion at its general body meeting in Chennai on Friday. The AICF sources say the proposal will be approved.
The ground-breaking move, as one AICF official said, is aimed at giving more emphasis on performance of the players at the international tournaments than on the national circuit.
For example, top finishers at the year’s National A were hitherto being picked for the year’s Olympiad which was necessarily were not the country’s best players. Last year, a rank outsider like DP Singh, who was not even an International Master at that stage, managed a top four finish at the National A and got automatically selected for the Olympiad ahead of some Grandmasters.
The new reform will ensure that only players with high Elo ratings would only represent the country at the biennial Olympiad. As per the present rating, Vishy Anand (2801), P Harikrishna (2668), K Sasikiran (2661), Sandipan Chanda (2593) and SS Ganguly (2585) are the top-rated players. “We want to send the best from the country to the Olympiad,” said Sameer Salgaokar, one of the vice-presidents of the AICF.
The AICF, said an official, believes that because of this flawed method, India, known to be one of the powerhouses in world chess, finished 31st the Turin Olympiad in 2006. The next Olympiad will be held in Germany in 2008. The other big change is to reduce the number of participants at the National A.
“We want to make it a purely elite tournament,” Salgaokar added.
At present the country’s premier tournament has about 50 qualifiers. The AICF now aims to bring down that number to 14 with top three players getting direct entrty into the next year’s tournament.
The National A, in fact, was always an elite tournament but a couple of years back, its format was changed on the request of the players’ body — Indian Chess Players Association.
This year, the National could not be held as the players protested poor facilities for the tournament. It will be held in February 2008.
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