No sponsors for premier chess tourney

A day before India’s premier chess tournament gets under way the organisers are running helter-skelter trying to get a title sponsor.

The 47th National Premier Chess Tournament (formerly known as National A championship) will start at the Goregaon Sports Club on Tuesday but the organisers are yet to secure a sponsor for the Rs4 lakh-prize money event.

With the top players missing in action, it would be an opportunity for youngsters to stake a claim for a spot in the Indian team. Top six finishers will be part of the country’s squad that will take part in various international tournaments.

GMs P Harikrishna, K Sasikiran and SS Ganguly are exempted from this tournament as all have an ELO rating above 2650. GM Parimarjan Negi and Sandipan Chanda will also skip the event. But it will still be a strong line-up with 10 GMs and 17 IMs Masters competing for the top prize money of Rs75,000.