INTERVIEW with AICF president Nitin Narang on India’s grand chess plan

The horic double gold for India’s Open and Women’s teams at the Olympiad shifted the power equation in world chess and put the country’s GenNext players in the limelight. All India Chess Federation president Nitin Narang spoke to The Indian Express on the road ahead — India’s own player rating system, contracts for top players and the challenges of generating sponsorships. Excerpts: India has a bunch of very talented players. Do you see this as a big responsibility?
Nitin Narang: The achievements of these golden boys and girls are because of their efforts and the sacrifices of their parents. When I was in Budapest for the Olympiad I saw how much parents were sacrificing. The federation’s role is to support players. Yes, there is a huge responsibility on my shoulders; one to continue the momentum, and second to make sure these players, who have outperformed everyone in the world, get the best of the facilities and support.
How was the reaction of other players and fans during the Olympiad?
Nitin Narang: India’s chess players were superstars there. There were people queuing up in front of the playing hall, waiting for the Indian players to come out. These are not just NRIs, but chess lovers from all over the world. The beauty of our Indian players is that they are humble and not flamboyant. For me, the best moment was when the national anthem was played. Players from across the world cheered when the names of Indian players were announced.
The Indian team celebrates the gold medal in the open section on the podium as chess legends Viswanathan Anand and Susan Polgar look on. (FIDE/Michal Walusza)You attended the FIDE Congress. What role does the world expect of AICF?
Nitin Narang: We are the world’s largest chess eco-system because of the population and they look up to us. Countries from Southeast Asia and Africa reached out for technical resources like the coaches, the arbiter and our grandmaster network. A lot of countries don’t have a grandmaster. Because of what our chess players have accomplished, we are looked up to for guidance.
It sounds like the BCCI in the ICC. In terms of numbers, money and sponsors.
Nitin Narang: At the Congress, it was discussed that FIDE could not meet the target for raising sponsorship money. The upside was that money was coming in because of the events and 130 to 140 percent of the target was achieved in terms of revenue from events. That kind of sponsorship and money was not coming into chess for development. But the more global events India hosts, the more sponsorship we can get. So comparing ourselves to the money in Indian cricket would be too premature. But I strongly believe that as adminrators, even globally, we need to identify great broadcasters. Money comes in when there are broadcasters.
India has larger-than-life stars so that is a good place to start for sponsorships.
Nitin Narang: At the peak of his career, Viswanathan Anand who is larger than life, had brand endorsements on par with any cricketer. But it showed that chess is an individual sport and that will always be a challenge. If we produce a world champion, we will see more excitement. But the difference between then and now is the kind of money people are spending on digital platforms. I urge brands to sign our Olympiad champions. The kind of influence our chess players have on the younger generation can be tapped. India is an academic-oriented country and chess is an option parents would want their kids to look at.
Chess rules are complex to appeal to people. As a federation will you be looking at dumbing it down and taking it to the people?
Nitin Narang: I co-relate our present chess ecosystem to the pre-UPI era of our financial ecosystem. Street vendors were making Rs 500, Rs 1,000 every day in cash but not depositing it in accounts. What UPI did was simplify it so people outside the formal system came in. In chess, there wouldn’t be too many houses without a chess board and that is the informal ecosystem. Our challenge is to bring in young players to the formal chess system. My UPI would be AICF’s own rating — a national rating for chess in India that is parallel with the exing FIDE Rating. It will bring in casual and professional players into the rating race. We live in a society where recognition matters a lot. I strongly feel that with AICF’s rating system, people would get into the formal ecosystem of chess because they want to compare themselves with other players, they want recognition and some want to take it up professionally. In a city like Karnal or say Ranchi you will know who is the top-rated player.
So this will be an App?
Nitin Narang: Ultimately it will be converted into an app. Every player will have their own dashboard to track performances. The federation and coaches will know how players are performing and you can catch them young. Players will have to reger but it will be very economical, something around Rs 1 a day. Our immediate target is to reach 10 lakh regrations. Currently, it is about 1.43 lakhs. Once that revenue kicks in you can create more opportunities for coaching, scholarships, or even chess leagues in smaller cities. We are also introducing our own rating tournaments like FIDE has.
You have met India’s top chess players. What are their needs from the AICF?
Nitin Narang: One of our top players mentioned that because of great performances of Indian players, tournaments around the world have started putting a cap on the number of Indian players because Indians would win 80 percent of the prize money. So top-rated Indian players get a chance to play but those below them don’t get too many opportunities. India lacks a robust ecosystem of super tournaments so we need more of those and international tournaments.
Nitin Narang: Also, there is an AICF action plan to support players financially. For our Under-7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 age-level players, the three top players from the nationals will get a player contract between Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 per month. The idea is to stop them from giving up sport. We will do it for two years for each player. The top 5 FIDE-rated players will get Rs 25 lakhs per annum and No.6 to 10 will get Rs 12.5 lakhs each.
What is the update on the Chess Olympiad Gaprindashvili Cup that was misplaced the AICF?
Nitin Narang: There were issues around the missing trophy that have now been addressed. And I am sure the proper processes are in place and from now onwards nothing like this will happen.