MUMBAI: Some top Grandmasters of the world will be seen in action at the Commonwealth Chess Championship, scheduled to be held in the city in November.
Former world championship challenger Nigel Short of England, former world No. 5 Kevin Pragett of Canada and highly-rated Ian Roger of Australia besides a host of young Indian GMs will take part in the championship to be held from November 19 .
The 11-day tournament will be see about 25 to 30 GMs besides 40 International Masters and about 100 Fide-rated players. The 10-round competition will be held in the city for the third time in a row, the earlier two occasions being 2003 and 2004. The championship will be hosted by the Mumbai Chess Association.
Organisers said Short has confirmed his participation in the championship which will have a prize money of Rs 10 lakh. Being the president of the Commonwealth Chess Federation, Short is expected for the tournament any way. His participation is sure to add star value to the championship which will have Indian stars like P Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, K Sasikiran and Parimarjan Negi, the youngest GM in the country and the world today.
“I’m looking forward to the tournament,” Short, who had a fine win against Harikrishna in the last round of the last edition, told DNA. “I don’t discount my chances, although I must say the large group of Indians have a good chance in the tournament.”
According to the organisers, there could be GMs from Canada, Australia and Britain besides India. At the last edition in 2004, the organisers had allowed GMs from the non-Commonwealth countries like Russia and Uzbekistan. But this time it will not happen.
