Announcing 14th Delhi Open with record prizes

14th Delhi International Open

Grandmasters Chess Tournament

New Delhi, 09-16 January, 2016

Venue: Ludlow Castle Sports Complex, Civil Lines, New Delhi, India

Delhi is a city where mystery intertwines with mayhem. Travelling to Delhi is like taming a wild beast. Approach it with nervousness and it will leave you overwhelmed. Embrace it like your lost soul mate and you will experience love and joy in a manner you may have never felt before. The Indian capital is littered with relics of lost empires. Invaders have come to imprint their marks on the vanquished city, before vanishing into the ruins like the ones who preceded them. The only thing constant in this city is the city itself.

The Lotus Temple [Wikipedia]

Connaught Place [Photo: Wikipedia]

The rich walking on the same street as the poor, modern (and cheap) metro trains running alongside slums, Mughal durbars and quilas staring at the 21st century structures, etc. are as mysterious as a city can get. The Rock and pop bands in Connaught Place making people dance with happiness on one side of the city to the soulful quawallis at Nizamuddin making people clap with devotion on the other side, dusty bazaars and lip smacking food that has left people stunned, licking their fingers for centuries -- welcome to Delhi. (source: Wikipedia)

‘Daulat Chaat’ is made using a complicated technique of condensing milk foam on a cold
night, and this dish is only available during winters. It is milky, airy and melt-in-mouth. Yes,
it will be winter in Delhi if you are playing this tournament! [Photo:Wikipedia]

India is a chess-loving nation. No, every Indian schoolboy cannot mate with a knight and bishop yet, but they do know the exploits of Vishy Anand, who recently turned forty-six. According to the AICF website, there are 51,179 registered players in this country, and more than 200 FIDE-rated tournaments are organized every year.  As you may have seen in some of our recent reports, the youth events usually witness an Indian hegemony.

Gradually, there has been an increasing trend of Grandmaster level tournaments in India over the past few years, which has enabled the Indian players to hone their skills by competing against excellent opposition. The city of Delhi has been in the forefront in hosting such events in India. Now, it comes to the fore once again as it hosts the 14th International Grandmasters Tournament from 9 January 2016 to 16 January 2016, when it will organize a festival with a total prize fund of Rs. 35,00,000, i.e., 48,000 Euros!

The 2015 edition attracted 1,343 players (!) to the Indian capital

The Delhi Chess Association, headed by the AICF CEO Bharath Singh Chauhan, is organizing the 14th Delhi Open from 9 January 2015 to 16 January 2015. The festival is a huge draw for Indians because of the exuberant prize fund that that acts as a honeycomb.

Traditionally, it is divided into three categories:

• Category ‘A’ that is for players rated above 2000, carrying a total prize-fund of Rs. 12.5 (17,000 Euros) lakhs,
• the Category ‘B’, which is for players rated below 2000, carrying a prize fund of Rs. 11.5 lakhs (16,000 Euros),  and
• Category ‘C’ that is for players rated below 1600 with a prize fund of Rs. 11 lakhs (15,000 Euros).  

The Category ‘A’ tournament will be held in a swiss league format spanning ten rounds with two double round days and six single-round days, which will be an afternoon game (last round will be in the morning). The time control for the event will be 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment from move one for the entire game. Players with a FIDE rating of 2000 and above at any point in their careers are eligible to participate.

The tournament has a prize fund of Rs. 12.5 lakhs (approximately 17,000 euros). The first prize of Rs. 3 lakhs translates to approximately 4500 euros. Quite a few strong players have already confirmed their participation:

Russian GM Boris Grachev (2652)

GM Ivan Popov (2650), also from Russia, is a regular in the Delhi Open

GM Anton Demchenko (2596) of Russia

You can check the complete starting list of the confirmed players for the Category ‘A’ here. With ongoing negotiations by the organizers, the list of participants is bound to get stronger. Players from around the world are expected to take part in this event, which has GM and IM norm opportunities up for grabs.

The Prize Fund for the ‘B’ category that is roughly 16,000 Euros, and first prize is about 2500 Euros.

The Prize Fund for the ‘C’ category, which is approximately 15,000 euros

The titled players will be allowed free entry to the tournament, with excellent accommodation facilities. Untitled players wishing to play the tournament now have a novel and hassle free option to pay their entry fees - by doing so though www.paychessentry.com. Of course, you can do a direct transfer to the organizer’s bank account, the details of which you will find in the prospectus attached below.

Players in India and abroad rated below 2000 have a unique opportunity to make almost as much money as the grandmasters in the ‘A’ section!

Click for for the official prospectus