The World Chess Championship is at least six months away but there’s already a mini-match unfolding in India over host bids. The Tamil Nadu state government and All India Chess Federation (AICF) have submitted separate bids to the world chess body, Fide, two days apart pitching Chennai and Delhi respectively as venues for the World Championship.

While AICF had originally planned to name ‘Yashobhoomi’ as the prospective venue for the match in its bid, it has now been revised to Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the G20 summit in 2023, located in the sprawling Pragati Maidan complex in New Delhi.

“Yes AICF has bid for the World Championship,” Nitin Narang, AICF president told HT. On Tamil Nadu government sending in a bid too for the match he said: “We are the only federation who have got the NOC from the government for the bid. Logically, the bid which has the support of the Government of India via the NOC, is the official bid of India.”

Fide has confirmed receiving a bid from Singapore as well.

Interest for the match – between reigning world champion Ding Liren and Indian teen phenom D Gukesh – later this year, is running high in the country and has now led to a situation where Gukesh’s home state, Tamil Nadu put in a bid independent of the national federation on May 29. The AICF sent in its bid to host the match two days later on May 31, the final day of submission. Now, the decision rests with Fide.

Tamil Nadu has hosted major chess events like the World Championship in 2013 and the Olympiad, more recently in 2022, while Delhi has hosted the first half of the World Championship in 2000. The final half was played in Tehran where Viswanathan Anand won his first world title. India hasn’t had a world champion since Anand won it five times. The overwhelming belief is that 18-year old Gukesh will end the wait and break Garry Kasparov’s record to become the youngest-ever world champion.

Tamil Nadu is led by chief minister and DMK president, MK Stalin who is part of the big tent, multi-party opposition bloc named INDIA, that is taking on the incumbent BJP-led central dispensation helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Results are due on June 4.

Gukesh being a son of the soil, Tamil Nadu might believe they have the first right to host the match. Insiders say that the national federation wasn’t consulted by the Tamil Nadu state government before they turned in their bid. “It’s unfortunate that they didn’t even discuss their intent to submit a bid with the AICF. Chennai already hosted the Olympiad in 2022. Rather than host two major chess events in two years, what’s the harm in exploring a new venue? If anyone can submit a bid as they please for an event of such magnitude, what’s the point of having a national federation?,” said an official.

Responding to the question of admissibility of a bid not routed through the national federation, Fide legal director Aleksandr Martynov told HT: “The regulations for the 2021 match, for example, contained the following paragraph - 5. 2. Any federation member of Fide or any organizer approved by a national federation may bid for the organization of the World Championship. At the moment, the regulations of the 2024 match have not been approved. Moreover, the application announcement also did not contain a requirement for all applications to be routed through the national federation.”

“Similarly, the regulations of the 2023 match also did not contain such a requirement. With this in mind, Fide formally reserves the right to review all submitted applications. At the same time, the opinion of the national federation is also one of the factors that Fide takes into account when making the final decision.”

It works to Fide’s favour to have competing bids. The world body has already quoted a fairly steep minimum total budget of $8.5 million for the November 20-December 15 match.

The importance of the match aside, an Indian taking on a Chinese player to possibly become world champion makes for extraordinary optics. It will also, for the duration of the match, pivot global attention to its hosts. One that political leaders in the country might be keen to cash in on. Security and political tensions between India and China have been on the rise in recent years. It largely stems from the 3440 km long border between both countries, with China staking claim to territory and India placing a blanket ban on Chinese apps.

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