Indian men's, women's teams for Chess Olympiad finalised

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) has finalised the five member Indian mens and womens teams for Chess Olympiad 2018 to be held in Batumi in Georgia this September, said a senior official.

He also said the city based Ramco Group has decided to sponsor the Indian Olympiad team.

The five-member Indian men's team for the Olympiad will be spearheaded by five-time World Champion and presently the World No.14 Grand Master (GM) Viswanathan Anand (ELO rating of 2,759).

The other members are World No.22 GM P. Harikrishna (ELO 2,732) World No.32 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (ELO 2,710), World No.68 GM B. Adhiban (ELO 2,671) and World No.78 GM K. Sasikiran (ELO 2,666), Bharat Singh Chauhan, Secretary, AICF told IANS on Wednesday.

He said the women's team would comprise of Humpy Koneru (ELO 2,557), Harika Dronavalli (ELO 2,494), Eesha Karavade (ELO 2,399), Tania Sachdev (2,393) and Padmini Rout (ELO 2,352).

According to Chauhan, the Ramco group will be sponsoring the Indian Olympiad team.

"The Ramco group will get its visibility. The Indian players will have the group's logo on their suit apart from other means of visibility," Chauhan said.

He said the Olympiad team members will also be offered financial incentives on a graded scale based on their rating.

According to AICF, in the case of the men's team, players with ratings over 2,650 will be paid Rs.200,000 and players with a rating over 2,600 - Rs.150,000.

For the women's team members, those having a rating of over 2,400 will be paid Rs.100,000 and players with a rating over 2,000 will be paid Rs.80,000.

If the team wins a medal, the AICF will pay all the team members a cash incentive of Rs.300,000 if the team wins the Gold medal or Rs.150,000 (Silver) or Rs.75,000 (Bronze).

Chauhan said training camps are being held for the men's and women's teams.

--IANS

vj/pur/bg