AICF to take action against Gopal
P.K. Ajith Kumar
www.hindu.com
ANGALORE: Grandmaster G.N. Gopal’s decision to skip the 46th National ‘A’ chess championship, which got under way at the Karnataka Bank Auditorium here on Wednesday, could prove costly. The All India Chess Federation (AICF) is planning to take disciplinary against the player.
The AICF secretary D.V. Sundar told The Hindu on telephone from Chennai that the federation was left with no option but to take action against the player.
“We had clearly instructed him to play in the National ‘A’ championship but he has decided to play in some tournament abroad instead,” he said.
Mr. Sundar added that no player could stay out of the National ‘A’ championship without taking permission from the AICF.
“And no Indian player can play in any tournament abroad without the AICF’s permission either,” he explained. “Neither have we given Gopal permission to skip the National ‘A’ or play in any tournament outside the country. We had also warned him that action would be taken if he doesn’t play at the National ‘A’.”Show maturity
Mr. Sundar said Gopal should show more maturity. “In the past too, he has missed out on some tournaments that he was instructed to play by the AICF, citing some excuses, but we had ignored those issues,” he said.
Meanwhile, the first round of the championship was delayed by a few hours because the players requested the organisers for more time to prepare for their game after they were given the pairing.
Because of Gopal’s withdrawal, one player will get a bye in each of the 13 rounds; veteran GM, Praveen Thipsay, was the beneficiary on the opening day.
The tournament concludes on December 30.
Source: http://www.hindu.com
That’s tough. I hope they won’t harm him too bad,
thoughts that come to mind are:
a) heavy-handedness, dictator style.
b) silly.
c) who cares what AICF thinks. who the hell are they?
If he doesn’t want to play, 1.f3 … 2.g4 comes in useful as White.
sounds like players are slaves to the AICF
Susan, Paul, please, a little bit of censorship!
They said nothing when Humpy refused to play.They daren’t do anything to Sasikiran and Harikrishna who don’t play the Nationals anymore.They are picking up on him because the state association wants to settle scores over the `coach ‘ issue.
Anand has not played the Nationals since 1987.If Sundar is really serious about this he should start with Anand.
What stupidity!
It sounds like the Chess Federation in India is too heavy-handed.
Why should a player have to ask permission to play in International Tournaments?
Is he not an adult, who can decide for himself what is best for his own chess career?
Kamalakanta
AICF’s tone reminds me the Old Soviet Union!!
No one is answerable in India. You can refuse padam shri to olympic medal winners and without any shame remain in office. welcome to India.