IMAGE: The AICF will form a management board to run the sport professionally in the country. Photograph: International Chess Federation/Instagram
The All India Chess Federation will start the tendering process of the Indian Chess League, it plans to launch in December this year, in the next 15 days.
The franchise-based league, which will be modelled on the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL), will have 6-8 teams.
“We have to change the face of Indian chess. It will be like the IPL,” said AICF president Sanjay Kapoor.
Kapoor said that every state chess association will receive Rs seven lakh each year and hoped that with the blueprint he has set during the meeting in Kanpur, the state bodies could expect to get around Rs 25 lakh as ex-gratia in the next three-four years.
“The AICF is also going to buy 6,000-7,000 chess boards to distribute to state associations.”
He also said the AICF will form a management board to run the sport professionally in the country.
“We have to change our mindset to grow. We’ve got to think about our lacunas, our shortcomings and we have to work on that all the time. In three years’ time we will not need any government funding,” he said.
On whether he had envisage a role for the likes of Indian chess legends like Viswanathan Anand and Humpy, Kapoor said, “They are with us. Anand is a deputy president of (international chess federation) FIDE. He is always there with the federation (AICF). Anand is an icon and is face is very important for Indian chess,” said Kapoor.
