Chess Championships in India is mainly conducted by the All India Chess Federation. These tournaments have the national and international prestige. In India, the chess scenario is actually flourishing with some very talented youngsters who are willing to make it large in the international stage. In fact, India is sometimes considered as a chess powerhouse. With such a tremendous increase in the number of youngsters aspiring to take the game of chess, the domestic chess championships or tournaments have witnessed a strong competition as well as considerable improvement in overall standards.
Role of All India Chess Federation
All India Chess Federation organizes chess events not only at national level, but also at several regional levels. The regional level chess championships of India are basically conducted by State Chess Associations. All India Chess Federation has produced some of the finest chess players, the country has ever witnessed. The list includes names like Viswanathan Anand, Manuel Aaron,Dibyendu Barua, Humpy Koneru and Parimarjan Negi and Tania Sachdeva to name a few, who have left a mark in the world chess arena and have made the country proud. Throughout the year, a number of chess events are organized and where a large number of young enthusiasts participate.
Women Chess Championship in India
The All India Chess Federation is in charge of managing Men"s Chess in India and is also responsible for managing Women"s Chess in India. In the year 1974, the first Women"s Senior National Chess Championship was organized in the country. The first 10 editions were dominated by the Khadilkar sisters Vasanti, Jayshree and Rohini. The several renowned chess championships in India are listed below
•Chandigarh All India Open Chess Championship, Chandigarh
•North East Chess Championship, Agartala
•Delhi Open International Chess Championship, New Delhi
•Chennai Open International Chess Championship, Chennai
•National Team Championship, Haryana
•Thrissur International Chess Championship, Thrissur
•S.K. Narasimhan Memorial Chess Championship, Chennai
•National Under-11 Boys & Girls Chess Championship, Haryana
•P.K.V. memorial All India Chess Championship, Thodupuzha
•Commonwealth Chess Championship, New Delhi
•Orissa Open Grandmaster Chess Championship, Odisha
•Mumbai Open Grandmaster Chess Championship, Mumbai
•Asian Junior Chess Championship, Chennai
•National under - 13 Boys & Girls Chess Championship, Puducherry
•National Women Challenger Chess Championship, Assam
•National Challengers Chess Championship, Haryana
•National Sub Junior Boys & Girls Chess Championship, New Delhi
•National under - 25 Championship Chess Championship, Chandigarh
•National Women Premier Chess Championship, Odisha
1. Men Chess Champions of India These are some of the popular chess championships in India for men. Through these chess championships, the All India Chess Federation discovers new and fresh talents and it ensures quality competition in all the championships.
Ramchandra Sapre and D.Venkayya (1955)
2. Ramdas Gupta (1957)
3. Manuel Aron (1959, 1961, 1969-1973, 1975, 1976, 1981)
4. Farooq Ali (1963)
5. Rusi Madon (1966)
6. Nasir Ali (1967)
7. Ravi Sekhar (1976, 1979)
8. Rafiq Khan (1978)
9. Tiruchi N. Parameswaram (1979, 1996)
10. Praveen Thipsay (1982, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1992-1994)
11. Dibyendu Barua (1983, 1998, 2001)
12. Vishwanathan Anand ( 1986-1988)
13. Devaki V. Prasad (1990-1991)
14. Ponnuswamy Konguvel (1995)
15. Abhijit Kunte (1997, 2000)
16. Krishnan Sasikaran (1999, 2002, 2003, 2013)
17. Surya Sekhar Ganguly (2003, 2004, 2006- 2008)
18. Baskaran Adhiban (2009)
19. Parimarjan Negi (2010)
20. G. Akash (2012)
21. S. P. Sethuraman (2014)
Women Chess Champions of India
Some o the women chess Champions in India are:
1. Vasanti Khadilkar (1974)
2. Jayashree Khadilkar (1975, 1979, 1982, 1983)
3. Rohini Khadilkar (1976- 1979, 1981, 1983)
4. Bhagyashree Sathe (1985, 1986, 1988)
5. Saritha Reddy (1987)
6. Anupama Abhyankar (1989, 1990)
7. Bhagyashree Thipsay (1991, 1994)
8. Anupama Gokhale (1991, 1993, 1997)
9. Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi (1995, 1998- 2002)
10. Mrunalaini Kunte (1996)
11. Arthie Ramaswamy (2003)
12. Humpy Koneru (2003)
13. Nisha Mohota (2005)
14. Swati Ghate (2006)
15. Tania Sachdev (2006, 2007)
16. Harika Dronavalli (2009)
17. Soumya Swaminathan (2010)
18. Mary Ann Gomes (2011- 2013)
19. Padmini Rout (2014, 2015, 2016)
