Chess Association of India merges with All India Chess Federation to end conflict

After years of internal conflict and fights between the All-India Chess Federation and the breakaway Chess Association of India, the organisations have merged into one single entity that will manage the sport in India. In the press brief, recently elected AICF President Sanjay Kapoor, while announcing the merger, conveyed that both the organisations will be brought together at the national level and in various states under the umbrella of AICF. The two organisations for chess in India have been subject to years of internal fights among themselves, which have hurt the cause of chess up to a large extent.

AICF President, while addressing the media about the merger, said, “I have personally had several rounds of talks with all the stakeholders and have brought everybody on the same platform for the development of chess and all the chess players in the country. Like other federations, we too are struggling to organise our annual events and championships due to the Covid pandemic and could not afford to let our internal differences derail the sport even more. AICF Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said, “Once we formed the new body, one of our first goals was to address all the concerns of every member and bring everybody together for the sake of the sport”. 

Chess also suffers a similar tragedy in the Uttar Pradesh state of India, as there are currently two different bodies regulating the sport, UP Chess Association and UP Chess Sports Association. Speaking on the states being at loggerheads, Kapoor said, “This has been a long-running feud, and as I myself am from Kanpur, I believed it was my duty to resolve this problem on a priority. Today, I am happy to announce that both the groups are here”. 

The major merger event was also attended by UP Chess Association president P C Chaturvedi (IAS Retd), Sr Vice President of the Chess Association of India S L Harsh, and Secretary-General of the Chess Association of India Secretary, UP Chess Association SK Tewari. Sanjay Kapoor and Bharat Singh Chauhan also launched the Avijai Chess Academy at the press conference. The AICF is set to announce several plans and initiatives to re-popularise chess in India under its new set of office-bearers.

Image Source: ANI/ Pixabay