AICF hikes prize-money of all Chess Nationals
Come 2022, the National chess championships across the board will see a massive hike of Rs. 76 lakh in prize-money.
With MPL Sports signing a Rs. 1 crore deal with the All India Chess Federation for the title-sponsorship of all its Nationals, the players from under-■ to the seniors stand to gain heavily.
The National championships, both open and for women will see a prize-fund hike of Rs. 10 lakh each. Significantly, the National juniors get the second biggest raise of Rs. 7.50 lakh, followed by National sub-juniors, by Rs. 6.50 lakh.
Kanpur will host the Rs.
30-lakh National championship while Bheemavaram, in Andhra Pradesh, hosts the Rs. 25-lakh National women championship, from February 9.
In addition, two round robin events for women, offering Rs. 10 lakh each, will take place from
June 30-July ■ in Tamil Nadu and from August 12-20 in Goa.
In another welcome step, 13 International Opens are proposed across the country. Though the minimum prize-money for these is fixed at Rs. 15 lakh each, the aggregate prize-fund is likely to run into a few crores.