Play the Strongest Rapid+Blitz Tournament in Indian history

by Priyadarshan Banjan
6/18/2017 – Chess as a sport needs become a commercially viable if it has to continue to become richer. ChessMine's vision is to make chess financially powerful. We are all about honouring great chess and great chess players. We do this by relying on a unique revenue model that we have developed after years of studying the sport. ChessMine's first tournament is a Rapid+Blitz tournament in August in India's IT hub Bangalore with some of the best Indian players in history. Combine tourism with chess!

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The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.

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Play the Strongest Rapid+Blitz Tournament in Indian history

Participate and play the best Indian players ever!

Dear Chess Players,

Indian Chess in the 1980s was still an old man’s game. People weren’t yet used to losing to 14-year old children who barely thought over a move. This is in contrast to what we see these days when we see 10-year old kids hunting down grandmasters. Probably this is because the times are changing and computers have been getting better and better.

But one of the key reasons why this is true is the rising number of tournaments. A young chess player has numerous options to play quality chess tournaments anywhere in India. The All India Chess Federation (AICF), led by D.V. Sundar and Bharat Singh Chauhan, is doing a tremendous job of making sure that a favourable environment exists. This allows India to host so many FIDE rated tournaments round the year (at last count India hosts 200+ such events every year!).

 

Mr. D.V. Sundar with the Bronze winning Indian team at the 2014 Olympiad

In our humble attempt to host world-class tournaments with facilities most players only see in top level events, we are proud to launch the ChessMine Rapid and Blitz Open 2017.

ChessMine's vision is to make chess a financially powerful sport. We are all about honouring great chess and great chess players. We do this by relying on a unique revenue model that we have developed after years of studying the sport. The people involved in this organisation are all chess players first, their ratings spanning between 1650 and 2500, with a keen interest in finance and entrepreneurship.

 ChessMine is all about honouring great chess and great chessplayers.

A good ChessMine tournament means that the players get the best playing conditions, good money in cash prizes, and strong players, all in one place.

For years chess has remained in shadows of other, bigger sports, and while most people believe that it can never be a spectator sport, we firmly believe that it is an amazing game that can be played by anyone, anywhere and hence has the potential to become the most powerful sport on this planet.

How can you help Chess become Financially Powerful?

Valar Dohaeris.

Play. Play chess. Play chess in our tournaments. Like some of these very strong players have decided to:

India No. 3 Vidit Gujrathi (Elo: 2692, Rapid Elo: 2718)

Former Indian Champion and Asian Champion, S.P. Sethuraman (Elo: 2625)

Former World Junior Champion and winner of several world-class Opens across the world, Abhijeet Gupta (Elo: 2625)

The gems of Indian chess, Aravindh Chithambaram and Karthikeyan Murali (Double Indian Champion) are both close to 2600.

Details:

 Summary

Main Cash Prizes and Category Prizes totaling to Rs. 4 lakh 50 Thousand, in other words, about $ 7000. Exchange Rate: 1 USD=Rs. 65.

Special Prizes for Female players, Seniors, Juniors, and Schools

Time Control and System of Play

Tie-Break

While there is a raging ongoing debate about the tie-break system that is most fair to all the players, we firmly believe that 'Most number of wins' is not the best way to determine the fair winner of the higher prize. Therefore, we have gone back to the Buccholz tiebreak system, until a better system of breaking ties can be found. However, to determine the winner of the first prize, we shall have a Play-off.

First Prize Play-Offs

  1. In the event of a tie for first place, a tie breaking playoff will be held to determine the winner of the first prize. A maximum of 4 players can be qualified for this play-off. The qualifiers will be determined by the best performance ratings of the tied players.
  2. The tiebreak will start at the end of the final round on Sunday August 6 2017. The organizers reserve the right to modify the time controls for the playoffs if time is insufficient.
  3. The playoffs will take place in the form of knockout matches. At least one arbiter will supervise each game, hence the normal Laws of Chess will apply.
  4. If 3 players are tied, lots will be drawn to see who does not play the first round. If 4 players are tied lots will be drawn to determine the opponents. The players draw for colour before the first game.
  5. Each match will take place as follows: 2 games of rapid play - 10 minutes + 5 seconds per move added (Fischer). If the score is tied after 2 games then 2 games of blitz – 3 minutes + 2 seconds per move will be played with opposite colours from the first match. If the score is still tied a sudden death game will be played with obligation to win with white with the time control of 4 minutes + 2 seconds per move for white and 3 minutes + 2 seconds per move for black. Lots will be drawn just before this final game and the winner will choose his/her colour.
  6. The winner takes the Rs. 100,000 first prize. The loser(s) will have their prize money divided amongst the players with whom they are tied, including those who did not participate in the playoff.

Entry Fees:

We believe that our tournament is not only for the elite players. This is for every player at every level. In future, we will endeavour to bring down the entry fee even further. The youngsters meanwhile have heavily discounted entry fees--our way to encourage them to play.


Blitz Cash Prizes

Main Cash Prizes and Category Prizes totaling to Rs. 1 Lakh 50 Thousand, which is $ 2330.

Special Prizes for Female players, Seniors, Juniors, and Schools


Tie-Break

Again, as we mentioned before, we would prefer to stick to 'Buccholz System' of tiebreaks. But there will be a play-off for the first place.

Play-Offs:

  1. In the event of a tie for first place, a tie breaking playoff will be held to determine the winner of the first prize. A maximum of 4 players can be qualified for this play-off. The qualifiers will be determined by the best performance ratings of the tied players.
  2. The tiebreak will start at the end of the final round on Monday August 7 2017. The organizers reserve the right to modify the time controls for the playoffs if time is insufficient.
  3. The playoffs will take place in the form of knockout matches. At least one arbiter will supervise each game, hence the normal Laws of Chess will apply.
  4. If 3 players are tied, lots will be drawn to see who does not play the first round. If 4 players are tied lots will be drawn to determine the opponents. The players draw for colour before the first game.
  5. Each match will take place as follows: 2 games of blitz – 3 minutes + 2 seconds per move will be played with opposite colours from the first match. If the score is still tied a sudden death game will be played with obligation to win with white with the time control of 4 minutes + 2 seconds per move for white and 3 minutes + 2 seconds per move for black. Lots will be drawn just before this final game and the winner will choose his/her colour.
  6. The winner takes the Rs. 100,000 first prize. The loser(s) will have their prize money divided amongst the players with whom they are tied, including those who did not participate in the playoff.

Entry Fees

Again, for Blitz as well, keeping with our policy of making the event for players of all the levels, there is a flat entry fees which is quite low. But if you want to play both the Rapid Tournament and the Blitz Tournament,...

Combined Entry Fees for both Rapid and Blitz

Heavily discounted prices for players playing both the tournaments. For 10 and below it is $30, for Age 11-16: $31, Age 17+: $35


Grandmaster Lecture on 'Improve your Chess Rating' by Srinath Narayanan:

India’s 46th Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan will give a special 1.5-2 hours lecture on ‘Improvement in Chess’.

Srinath is an accomplished player with numerous achievements to his credit. He is the former World Under-12 Champion, former three-time Asian Junior Champion, and has had students who have made a 200+ rating jump on a regular basis, at all levels.

Srinath will additionally pair up with one of the visiting grandmasters and answer all the doubts of the players who want to improve their chess.

What better chance to learn from a world-class grandmaster? Srinath has coached a set of chosen students who are rated between 1500 and 2450 in his repertoire until today, and ALL of them have shown 100-300+ jump in their ratings.

The lecture will be held in the playing hall on Sunday after the Rapid Tournament finishes, and before the Prize Distribution Ceremony begins at 4.30 PM.

Affordable Grandmaster coaching at the end of Rapid Tournament and a day before the Blitz Tournament.

Accommodation & Transit for Outstation Players


 

And frankly, it is not just about chess. When you are in South India, you cannot afford to miss:

The backwaters of Kerala

The Kerala houseboat is a cultural heritage which in itself tells you a lot about this province. The country-side house boats are referred to as ‘Kettuvallam’ in Malayalam – the language of Kerala. They are made up of locally found materials like of bamboo poles, coconut fibre, ropes, bamboo mats, and are often 60-70 feet long.

Inside of the Kalamandala – a typical south Indian temple architecture. They are fortresss like structures with the main temple in the centre

This is the traditional way of eating food in South India in general. The food is served in a banana leaf which does a plate’s job. It is believed that this maintains the freshness and tenderness of the food. The rice is known as rosematta rice, an indigenous variety that gives you an earthy flavour which reaches enticing proportions when eaten with red meat

Silent Valley at Palakkad

Champakulam boat race competition

And of course, you must not forget to visit the Chess Village, Marrotichal! (Photo by Jack Palfrey)

Fill out the ChessMine Form to finish the Participation Process! (Foreign Players may fill relevant Data)


Regulation for local players: We want the players to note that even though we have not arranged accommodation for every player, we leave the choice in the players' hands.

If you are a foreign player, please drop an email to us (and fill the form above) and we will be honoured to help you get good accommodation at reasonable costs. India is a fantastic country to visit, and Bangalore is only a few couple of hours from Goa that is famous for its beaches, Kerala, which is famous for its greenery, and Tamil Nadu (including Chennai, the birthplace of Vishy Anand), the centre of Indian chess. Not to forget Karnataka and the host city Bangalore itself, which is the hub of a revolution in the making.

We hope you will participate and contribute your bit in making chess a financially powerful sport.

Regards,

Priyadarshan Banjan, Srinath Narayanan, Hinduja Reddy, and Likhit Chilukuri

(For ChessMine)

For Further Details Contact

For Titled Players: GM Srinath Narayanan [Email: nsrinath2794@gmail.com]

Others: Priyadarshan Banjan [WhatsApp: +918848057156]

Email: chessmine64@gmail.com

For Sponsorship, Business, and Commercial Opportunities: banjanpriyadarshan@gmail.com

Indian players can pay their Entry Fees in ChessBase India here.

Download the Prospectus from here.

All Photos by Amruta Mokal


Priyadarshan Banjan is a 23-year-old club player from India. He works as an editor for ChessBase News and ChessBase India. He is a chess fanatic and an avid fan of Vishy Anand. He also maintains a blog on a variety of topics.

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