Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Goa
There was a surprise guest at the FIDE World Cup on Tuesday. Anurag Thakur, former sports minister and president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was here to make the ceremonial first move in the game between Arjun Erigaisi and China’s Wei Yi. He heads a Parliamentary committee these days and has no direct connection with sports. Still, he has an idea about the Indian sports ecosystem.
Thakur spoke eloquently about the efforts made by several national sports bodies these days and particularly praised the All India Chess Federation for handing out annual scholarships to players from the junior categories. Asked about the plans for India potentially hosting the Olympics in 2036 and allowing players of Indian origin from other countries to represent the Tricolour, he understandably avoided direct answers. “I may have my views but I am not authorised to comment on these things officially,” said the MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur. “I would like to see home-grown talents prosper though.”
He was asked if the central government, which has been proactive in promoting sports, or the sports ministry would take steps towards having an annual chess competition of international stature in India. That’s because the country doesn’t have a regular event on the calendar at the moment other than the Chennai Grandmasters, which started three years ago. Most of the Indian players have to travel abroad to participate in high-level competitions they can garner norms or rating points from.
“That’s not for me to answer actually,” said Thakur. “I’ll be glad if the AICF officials take a call on this. All I can say is they are doing a great job. Hand-holding the junior players and offering annual scholarships is a big step in the right direction. Also, getting the World Cup trophy named after Viswanathan Anand. I am sure they have larger plans of promoting chess in the country. They are doing well at the grassroots and that’s where our players are coming from. Later on, I am sure the AICF will have some bigger plans.”
There was no cricket talk because of the occasion, although Thakur is primarily a cricket person when it comes to sports administration. About chess, he only had good things to say about the federation and lauded them for having got the World Cup back in India for only the second time, after 20-plus years – “It’s a commendable initiative and I believe all the other sports federations will also do a similar job.”