FIDE approves Chennai as venue

The Presidential Board of FIDE, the world chess body, has approved the staging of the World chess championship in India. Reigning champion India’s Viswanathan Anand will play challenger Norway’s Magnus Carlsen from November 6 to 26 in Chennai.

An agreement to this effect was signed by FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Secretary of the All India Chess Federation Bharat Singh Chauhan in Baku (Azerbaijan). With this the speculation about whether the championship will be held in India ends. The Baku meeting in effect ratified the Memorandum of Understanding that FIDE had arrived earlier with the AICF and the Tamil Nadu Chess Association.

India had stuck to the rules of the FIDE while accepting the generous offer from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to sponsor the competition. The government has offered Rs. 29 crore for this event, including the winner’s purse of Rs. 14 crore. The focus now would be to finalise an appropriate centre in Chennai for conducting this important contest.