With ₹2 crore likely as prize purse, chess league eyes top names

Carlsen, So, Aronian on radar for franchise-based rapid and blitz competition.

Come June 2022, chess is set to join the bandwagon of franchise-based sporting leagues in India. From cricket, football to volleyball, the past decade or so has seen a proliferation of professional leagues across a wide array of disciplines. While the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a behemoth beyond comparison, the relative success of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a pertinent example of what a well-run league can do to enhance a sport’s popularity.

Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen participates at the Energy Denmark Champions Battle 2019 in Circus Building, Copenhagen, Denmark May 22, 2019. (REUTERS)

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) is now aspiring to give chess that leverage.

There are set to be six teams in the league, each of which will consist of two super Grandmasters (GMs), two Indian GMs, two women GMs, one junior Indian boy and one junior Indian girl. The format of the league will be Rapid and Blitz with each team playing against each other twice in a round-robin system. The top two teams at the end of the league stage will meet in the final. The federation has roped in Gameplan Sports Private Limited to take care of organising and promoting the league.

AICF president Sanjay Kapoor, who was elected to his post last January, said the idea behind starting a league is to enable the growth of chess at the grassroots.

“There are 72 GMs in India now. During my tenure, I want to see the number exceed 100. My endeavour is to see chess being played across homes. A league like this can help chess grow at the grassroots level and ensure more players come up going forward,” he said.

The winning team is set to be awarded prize money of ₹2 crore. According to AICF, a few corporates have already shown an interest in acquiring teams.

“Aside from opportunities to our young players, we also want our players to make more money. When more money comes in, more people will opt to play chess,” said AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan.

World No 22 Vidit Gujrathi welcomed the initiative. “It’s a dream come true not just for me but all chess players in India. It makes me proud to have our own chess league. The youth will benefit from watching top GMs from across the world coming and playing here. It will give them invaluable experience,” the 27-year-old said at a recent press conference held by AICF.

Gameplan director Jeet Banerjee is confident that they can deliver a good product given the strength of Indian chess at the moment. As part of Gameplan, Banerjee has been running the Tata Steel Chess India tournament in Kolkata since 2018 and has seen the emergence of young Indian talent from close. In the 2021 edition, for instance, 18-year-old Arjun Erigaisi – a GM from Telangana – surprised many by winning the Rapid section of the tournament after holding world No 6 Levon Aronian to a draw from a losing position.

“The growth of Indian chess has been tremendous in the last few years. (Magnus) Carlsen has said India will be the next superpower in chess. The most encouraging thing is the fact that most of the Indian players are in their teens. Erigaisi’s win is proof that when Indian youngsters are given an opportunity to play with the best, they are as good. The chess league will provide a similar platform. I am very hopeful of that,” said Banerjee.

The key for a league to be successful, according to Banerjee, is the strength of the local talent as well the quality of the foreign players on view. While Indian chess players are of an extremely high standard in his view, he is also hopeful of roping in the world’s top players.

“We have had Carlsen come and play the Tata Steel event in Kolkata in the past. He would have come in 2021 too if it had not clashed with the World Championship. So, we are very confident that we can rope in the likes of Carlsen and other top-10 players like Anish Giri, Wesley So and Aronian.”

While the vision for the league is grand and ambitious at this stage, Banerjee is aware that a note of caution also needs to be exercised. Kick-starting a league may have its hurdles, but as the numerous leagues that have come and gone show us, sustaining interest among the stakeholders as time wears on is an even greater ask.

“Other than IPL, the Indian Super League (football) and PKL are the only two leagues that have run uninterrupted from the time they started. PKL had a halt only because of Covid-related issues but it is back now. Every other league has either stopped or shrunk, whether it is hockey, badminton, boxing or wrestling. One needs to be realistic. You also need owners who are passionate about sport and chess,” he said.

Another challenge, of course, is to get a prominent broadcaster. Since the onset of Covid-19, many chess players including Gujrathi have taken to live streaming on Youtube, and the response they have garnered makes the organisers optimistic that collaborating with a digital platform may be the way to go.

“The broadcast aspect has not been given much importance in chess over the years. We would like to have a big broadcaster as a partner simply because they would have the reach. It need not be on TV. It could be an OTT platform with a big presence as well. We are trying to go beyond the very serious viewers because chess is now also reaching people who don’t see the game purely from a technical point of view. There are people who enjoy having fun with chess,” said Banerjee.