Chess: Koneru, Harika to lead India's challenge in Asian Games

KANPUR: The All-India Chess Federation (AICF) on Sunday announced the 10-member contingent for the Asian Games, scheduled to commence on September 23 in Hangzhou, China, which will be led by double Asian Games gold medallist Koneru Humpy and bronze medallist Dronavalli Harika.

The announcement of the Indian contingent was made during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the AICF held here on Sunday.

In the team event, which will be played in a standard format, all renowned Grandmasters (GMs) D. Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, P. Harikrishna, Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa have been selected.

On the other hand, Humpy, Harika, R. Vaishali, Vantika Aggarwal, and B. Savitha Shri have been chosen to form the women's team for the event.

Humpy won the gold in women's individual and mixed team gold medals at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha while Harika secured an individual bronze at the 2010 edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

In the individual event, to be played in Rapid format, Vidit and Arjun are selected to compete in the men's category while Humpy and Harika will participate in the women's event.

AICF president Sanjay Kapoor, who headed the general body meeting, said that the Indian chess league might finally be a reality as he announced to invite tenders for the same.

Speaking on a landmark decision the AICF chief told IANS, "We will be putting out a tender in 10 days time."

In another major transformation move, the AICF president announced that a special management board under the leadership of the AICF President will be set up to run things smoothly under a professional setup. This committee will overlook all important affairs of AICF.

"It (management board) will be presided over by the president itself. He will be going to appoint all the professionals, who will be in direct talk to him," the AICF chief said.

Asked if there will be any former players on the management board, Kapoor said, "If you want to be an appointment you can apply, it's a job. All the associations are an honourary job. These are professionals in their own field so that they can run the federation professionally."

In the meeting, it was planned to have a development programme for All States and in this regard, all affiliates of AICF will receive 7 Lakhs per annum in addition to 200 Chess sets.

Besides, AICF also decided to bring on board a professional agency to look after the revenue and bring in more sponsorship.

India team for Asian Games:

Men: D. Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, P. Harikrishna and R. Praggnanandhaa.

Women: Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, R. Vaishali, Vantika Aggarwal and Savitha Shri.