‘Success of Olympiad helped in people having a favourable perception towards travelling to Chennai’: Srinath Narayanan | Chess News

When organisers of chess’ Chennai Grand Masters went into a huddle a couple of months back, still long way from putting the tournament in place, they faced an all-important question. With the chess calendar already packed and most of the top players having their eyes set on the World Rapid and Blitz tournament and many staying in the comfort of Europe, they were unsure if any of the top players will even remotely show interest in featuring in a tournament.
With the London Chess Classic and World Rapid and Blitz event sandwiched between the marked window, pulling top players for an invitational event was the biggest challenge.
Though this was India’s highest ranked competition (2711), it was a standalone event, a first of its kind in the country. There was no hory or tradition associated with it like Tata Steel Chess event in Kolkata or any other Fide tournaments on the circuit. As GM Srinath Narayanan, part of the organising committee for the Chennai Grand Masters, reached out to the lot, he says the reception was overwhelming.
“I think the success of the Olympiad (last year) helped in people having a favourable perception towards travelling to India and committing to the tournament. So, as such when we contacted the players for the tournament, we mostly received favourable response for coming over here and playing. And then India has been one of the superpowers in chess in the last few years. So we have the infrastructure and a developing eco-system which is pulling the players. I would say everyone knows what India is and they were waiting for a super tournament of this kind,” Srinath tells The Indian Express.
This tournament allows the scope of adding a few ELO points sought after those in the fray for the Candidates, which meant the likes of D Gukesh, Ajrun Erigaisi, Parham Maghsoodloo didn’t think twice before committing.
Levon Aronian too agreed to come over and Alexandr Predke, Pavel Eljanov, Sanan Sjugirov all flew down despite some of them having the option to play in the Bundesliga.
“It’s a pretty strong tournament with strong players in the fray. It’s exciting for the best place in the world to play against our best players. And there’s also the added element of this being one of the last tournaments in the circuit this year. It didn’t require lot of convincing because I think the main thing is the kind of opposition you are playing and the location,” Srinath adds.
The tight calendar meant, some of the players arrived in the city only on the tournament eve and in the opening round, many were still complaining about jet lag and lack of sleep. Aronian, especially, who drew with Gukesh said he had only five hours of sleep since landing in Chennai on Thursday. “We had only around 40 days to put this event in place and it was close. The idea had been there for several months, but concrete plans came into place only two months back. But I think we have got a good start in terms of the players we have on board,” Srinath says.
That the Tamil Nadu government showed interest straightaway to host the event did help a great deal in pulling off the tournament at a short notice. Having hosted the Olympiad successfully last year, it is understood that the state government is working to make this event an annual affair, particularly because of the following the sport enjoys in these parts. “Last year, I didn’t get to enjoy Chennai because we were mostly stationed at Mahabalipuram for the Olympiad. But I know this city has a long standing tradition with chess and I didn’t have to think twice before agreeing to come,” Aronian said.