Missing! The Gaprindashvili Cup

AICF officials are in search of the Gaprindashvili Cup that was won by Indian teams at the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai in 2022.

At a time when the Indian Open and women's chess teams are hunting for a medal in the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) is also hunting for the Gaprindashvili Cup.

The AICF or its top management is not competing in any chess tournament for the Cup.

AICF officials are in search of the Gaprindashvili Cup that was won by Indian teams at the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai in 2022.

Named after the Georgian chess Grandmaster and former women's world chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili, the Cup is given to the nation's teams that shows combined supremacy in the Open and Women's sections in the Olympiad.

The Indian Open and Women's teams won the bronze medal at the Chennai Chess Olympiad. India won the Gaprindashvili Cup for the first time in 2022.

It said the Gaprindashvili Cup has been misplaced and the hunt is on after the International Chess Federation or FIDE as it is commonly known asked AICF about the trophy.

The AICF had asked its former secretary and the 44th Chess Olympiad Director Bharat Singh Chauhan about the Cup to which the latter had replied that it should be with the team members.

'I was the tournament director. The Cup is given to the team members. It should be with the players,' was Chauhan's cryptic response.

Chauhan in his reply to AICF had said the Cup was awarded to the team and the Indian Chess Federation should check with the team or Chennai office.

AICF President Nitin Narang, Head of Operations A K Verma was not reachable over phone for their comments. The questions sent to them remain unacknowledged.

"We are not able to find it. The players have not taken it. It is wrong to say the players have it," said an AICF official not wanting to be quoted.

The official said the matter came up only recently when FIDE asked about the Cup. Immediately the hunt for the Cup began and all the Indian players who had participated in the Chennai Olympiad were contacted.

All the players replied that they are not in the possession of the Gaprindashvili Cup.

The Tamil Nadu government that sponsored the Chennai Olympiad too said the Cup is not with it, the official added.

FIDE is reviewing the situation, a senior FIDE official said when asked.

The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad began at Budapest in Hungary on September 10, 2024. The event will end on the 23rd.

The Indian Open team is seeded second and the women's team is the top seed.

Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com