By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai, May 1 (IANS) The Chess Players Forum has now come out in support of the three FIDE-rated senior players, who were recently “illegally barred” from playing in the Tirunelveli District Selection Tournament.
“The All India Chess Federation (AICF) should pursue the issue with the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association (TNSCA) and see that necessary action is being taken,” International Master Neeraj Kumar Mishra, Secretary, Chess Players Forum told IANS.
He also said the AICF should also ensure that repeat of such actions does not happen across the country.
Chess players and other stakeholders are of the view that the AICF should not dither from taking action on the pretext that the District Chess Associations are not under its ambit.
The three players — M. Karunakaran (68 years), V. Palanikumar (58) and Scanny (48 years) — were not allowed to play in the Tirunelveli District Selection tournament at the last minute on April 9 by Tirunelveli District Chess Development Association (TDCDA) Secretary B.Paulkumar.
According to Paulkumar, the three had played in private tournaments held in Tenkasi district and hence they were not allowed to play in the tournament.
The three players lodged a police complaint against Paulkumar for his “illegal act” and also with the AICF and CCI.
However it is not without reason several chess players are sceptical about AICF taking any concrete action in this regard going by past experience.
According to a chess tournament organiser, when a complaint is received by AICF, it just forwards the same to the state association which in turn will forward it to the person against whom the complaint was lodged.
Continuing further he said, the person against whom a complaint is lodged will send his reply to the state association which will forward the same to AICF. The AICF will in turn forward the reply to the complainant and then close the file.
In the case of the three players, the above sequence of events happened and whether AICF has closed the file or is planning to take action is not known till date.
AICF’s Interim Secretary Vipnesh Bhardwaj was not available for comments when contacted by IANS.
The Indian chess body should not be just a messenger but take action on the player grievances, several chess players told IANS.
If the AICF is not able to take action against the errant District Association Secretary, then it should act against the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association which is permitting such illegal acts.
In 2019, Paulkumar had barred then 11-year-old Karthik Rahul from playing in a tournament midway on the grounds that he had played in a private tournament.
The act was in clear violation of the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) orders and the AICF rules, chess players told IANS.
If the AICF or the TNSCA does not act against the erring official then the logical conclusion is that the chess body is allowing the state/district bodies to bring back the old autocratic regime, chess players told IANS.
(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
–IANS
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