All India Chess Federation to cut down legal expenses

The expenses being counted for legal purposes in the All India Chess Federation had increased in the previous financial year from the last one and this has prompted the federation to take steps to cut down on that. According to the annual report of the AICF, a total amount of Rs. 33,82,585 were counted as ‘Legal Expenses’ in the last year. This was a lot more than that of the previous year which was Rs. 25,92,608.

“With Rs. 33 lakh as a leverage, one can hold a big grand master (GM) level tournament and also raise substantial funds through sponsorship. These are actually not legal expenses, but ‘ego expenses’ of the AICF,” a chess player told IANS.

The AICF had earned a total income of Rs 8.41 crore in the financial year which ended on last March 31. In the previous counting year, it was Rs 7.59 crore for the federation. AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan has also agreed to the need of cutting down on legal expenses of the governing body of chess in India.

“Legal expenses are unavoidable for any organisation. The AICF has to take action to defend and implement its rules, protect the players from unscrupulous tournament organisers and others,” Chauhan told IANS.

“We have to engage lawyers to issue a notice to the organiser of a prize money chess tournament in Andhra Pradesh for defaulting on his commitment to pay the winners. The issue will be settled and the players will get their prize money by the end of this month.”

Speaking about FIDE restoring the Elo ratings of Indian chess players Chauhan said, “The Elo ratings is FIDE’s domain. It can restore the ratings of the players it had cancelled earlier.”