Inside the chess world's race to capture the booming Indian market

THE FIDE World Cup is scheduled to be held in India later this year.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN @ Stavanger

THE FIDE World Cup is scheduled to be held in India later this year. The third season of the Global Chess League (GCL), owned and conducted by an Indian company, may be held in Chennai in December. Another edition of the Chennai Grandmasters, India's only super tournament, is scheduled to be held in August. It may be bigger and better than the first two.

Viswanathan Anand, a former five-time world champion, is one of FIDE's top officials. D Gukesh is the reigning world champion. Arjun Erigaisi, now in the top five, had to play and win a lot of open tournaments. These days, Erigaisi gets invited to a lot of top-tier events; an indication of his standing. Likewise with Aravindh Chithambaram, R Praggnanandhaa and so on.

In short, if you are an Indian — or an Indian entity — involved in chess, this is boom time. Everybody wants in on the gravy train or the 'Indian market'. It, of course, wasn't like this before.