India National Chess begins with Sasikiran as Top Seed

Hello chess blog friends, the Russian national chess championship is about to conclude and beginning in another strong country is another national chess championship! We speak of India. 

Top seed GM Sasikiran

The Indian national chess championship begins on Thursday in the southern city of Kottayam. The 52nd edition of the event will run all the way to December 18 and feature 14 leading chess players of India. Nine players have qualified to the event through the National Challenger Championship, four from FIDE and the reigning champion.

The tournament will decide the national champion of the year as well as the Indian team to be sent to major events like Asian, World and Olympiad championships.

Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran - former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand's second in the recently-concluded world championship in Russia, will be the top seed. The lineup also includes Adhipan, Lalith Babu and Sethuraman, who have all been bronze winners in board prizes at World Chess Olympiads. 

The prize money is about $15,000 and the CMS Bi-Centenary trophy is sponsored by the Church of South India. 

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