[1]GM Krishnan Sasikiran
The stage is set for the AICF-AAI Cup, a six player double round-robin format Category-18 tournament that will be played at the Airports Authority Club in the capital from December 20 to 30.
All players, with an average rating of over 2675 elo rating points, will play each other twice — with white and black alternately. The championship will be formally inaugurated on Wednesday at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The inauguration ceremony of the championship will coincide with the closing ceremony of the ongoing Asian School Chess Championship under way at the IGI Stadium. Over 400 children from 11 countries are taking part in various championships ranging from Under-5 to Under-17 age-groups for school going participants from across Asia.
It will be a fitting opener for the strongest ever Indian tournament. World champion Vishwanathan Anand’s second in his last three world championship campaigns, Grandmaster Radoslav Wojtaszek of Poland, is the top seed and favourite for the crown when the first round starts on Friday in the 12-day event.
The Indian challenge will be spearheaded by GM Krishnan Sasikiran along with reigning Asian champion Parimarjan Negi and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta.
Current Ukrainian champion Anton Korobov and former Russian champion Evgeny Alekseev complete the line-up of six participants that will play a double-round robin contest. The tournament carries `12 lakhs in prize money with `4 lakh going to the winner.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/gm-krishnan-sasikiran-177