Viswanathan Anand to represent India in online Nations Cup chess
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand will lead India's contingent in the upcoming online Nations Cup. Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess grandmaster, will also be among the competitors. According to International Chess Federation (FIDE), the new chess competition will feature six teams of four players. The event will take place from May 5 to 10 amid coronavirus outburst. Here is more.
The competition will feature six teams
A number of marquee players from Russia, USA, Europe, China, India will battle it out in the competition. The event will also see a 'Rest of the World' team. Besides Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand, the 16-year-old Iranian Alireza Firouzja will also take part. Each team must include at least one female player. However, FIDE will likely confirm the team line-ups on Wednesday.
Rules to ensure fair play
The players will be observed by international referees, who are affiliated with FIDE, via a video conference call in order to guarantee fair play. For ensuring that participants do not fetch any external help, their webcam, computer screen and the entire room will under surveillance. FIDE's president Arkady Dvorkovich believes chess may bring solace to people under the incumbent crisis.
Happy to be conducting an online chess event: Dvorkovich
"The reasons why an official tournament like this has to be conducted online are very unfortunate - but we are happy to see that chess is providing solace to millions of people who are under a home lockdown," Dvorkovich stated.
Format of the competition
The six teams comprising of four players each will face each other in the first stage (double round-robin) from May 5-9. A rapid-play format will be followed wherein each player starts the game with 25 minutes on the clock, while an extra ten seconds will be added after each move. The top two teams will meet in a Superfinal on May 10.
The coronavirus crisis has led to suspension of chess tournaments
Chess tournaments around the world have been stalled, owing to coronavirus pandemic. The Candidates tournament, which is one of FIDE's flagship events, had to be halted midway. Meanwhile, the Chess Olympiad was postponed by a year.
