Chennai Open chess, a tournament for the underdog

To an extent it is true but in the last couple of years, the accent of the tournament has been on increasing the base level so that participation at the lowest level is more with the rating relaxation. 

The event has produced many GM and IM norms over the years but of late the expected score for a GM norm is almost 80 percent and the corresponding IM norm about 70 percent which is a tall order.

It is mainly because a rising player needs to get into the top bracket quite quickly scoring hundred percent in the first two or three rounds and keep doing well even after getting to meet the foreign participants to complete the requirements. 

But the tournament has become attractive for a new section of players after the increased participation at the base level: the have-nots. This group comprises the most ambitious players and if they are in the 2100-2200 rating bracket, a good performance would fetch them good returns in terms of an International Master norm which would have been difficult for a player in the 2300-2400 group where the expected target score is more. 

That is why the Chenai Open slogan should now be changed to a ‘tournament for the underdog’ rather than one for the `norm seekers.’ Chennai has a strong set of young Grandmasters, who have given this event a miss mainly because they find other events more attractive. 

Take Aravindh Chithambaram, the most promising young gun from Tamil Nadu. He became a Grandmaster at the age of 15 and one of his norms was from the Chennai Open. Then, there is the big Chennai trio,  Baskaran Adhiban, SP Sethuraman and Krishnan Sasikiran, who are all in the 2600-plus segment. Some of them are playing in tournaments abroad around the same time. 

However, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association (TNSCA) are not unduly worried about the drop in strong Indian entries. “It has always been like this,” says DV Sundar, the secretary of AICF. “This tournament is expected to be beneficial to the norm seekers and players in the lower category. They get to play the foreign Grandmasters and that is why we have invited 20-odd GMs from outside.” 

The underdog in Chennai would be eagerly waiting for his chance against a strong GM, preferably from Russia or Ukraine. A draw for them against these players would be worth its weight in gold in terms of rating gain while for the big fish the expectations (called expectancy in chess parlance) are huge and he would drop precious points in case he does not win. But as Sundar said, ‘let the strong Indians go abroad and improve their rating and the underprivileged wait for the foreign GMs to come here, so that they could look to increase their rating.’  

The Russian entries in Chennai, on the contrary, find the event attractive because they hardly get inivitations inside their own country as there are too many strong GMs there. They get decent appearance money and prize in Chennai so that they could forget their rating for a while and play freely.