IMAGE: D Gukesh in action against Divya Deshmukh at the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 tournament in Samarakand, Uzbekistan, September 2025. Photograph: Michal Walusza/FIDE

Key Points

• The FIDE Excellence Awards is a new biennial programme established in 2026 to honour outstanding achievements, individuals, events, teams, federations and initiatives across the global chess community.
• The achievements of Indian players are primarily the result of their own hard work and the sacrifices made by their parents, said former Maharashtra Chess Association secretary Sanjay Kedge.
• Concerns have been raised about AICF's alleged unresponsiveness, failure to utilise government funds, lack of transparency in meetings and accounts, and charging FIDE fees despite waivers.

The International Chess Federation, or FIDE, has shortlisted the All India Chess Federation (AICF) as one of 10 contestants for its Excellence Award in the Best Federation category. The decision has evoked mixed reactions and disbelief among sections of India's chess ecosystem.

The FIDE Excellence Awards is a new biennial programme established in 2026 to honour outstanding achievements, individuals, events, teams, federations and initiatives across the global chess community, FIDE said.

The FIDE Excellence Awards Jury, appointed by the FIDE president in consultation with the management board and the FIDE Excellence Awards working group, reviewed the nominations and selected the official shortlists for 11 award categories -- six regular and five discretionary.

Interestingly, 2026 is also an election year for FIDE. Elections to select AICF office-bearers are also fast approaching.

India's Chess Achievements And FIDE's Rationale

With India moving towards its 100th chess Grandmaster, producing two world champions and having several young players ranked among the world's best, the AICF's nomination for the award would, on the face of it, appear understandable.

'The outstanding federation of the Olympiad cycle. India celebrated Gukesh Dommaraju becoming the 2024 FIDE World Champion, Divya Deshmukh winning the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup, R Vaishali winning the 2025 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss, while R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi established themselves among the world's elite,' FIDE said while shortlisting the AICF.

'India also continued to excel in youth development, women's chess, event organisation, and grassroots participation, confirming its position as the world's fastest-growing chess nation,' FIDE added.

Election-Year Timing Raises Questions

Some individuals in the Indian chess community do not agree with that assessment.

"It is possible that the shortlisting is done with an eye on the vote to be cast by AICF officials in the upcoming FIDE elections. How has FIDE shortlisted AICF for a prestigious award when it is an unresponsive and non-supportive federation?" asked Sanjay Kedge, former secretary, Maharashtra Chess Association.

Kedge is also president of the United India Chess Forum, a body under registration, and has formed the over 900-member WhatsApp group called 'Unrest In Chess India Forum'.

"The present tenure of the AICF management is the worst among all other tenures of AICF since its formation," alleged Kedge.

"The shortlisting itself will enhance their misdeeds by double speed. It seems the award may be part of the election campaign of AICF for the polls scheduled within a few months," Kedge remarked.

Perhaps Kedge has forgotten that an earlier AICF management was instrumental in withdrawing the international ratings of over 100 Indian chess players. FIDE restored the ratings of the affected players only a couple of years ago.

"FIDE will have its own norms for selecting a national chess federation for the Excellence Award," International Master Neeraj Kumar Mishra told this correspondent.

Then FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich had to apologise to players at the Women's Grand Prix 2023 event in New Delhi following a series of organisational gaffes.

Critics Question AICF's Transparency And Accountability

Continuing his criticism of the AICF, Kedge said the federation had failed to fully utilise funds allocated by the Union government and had returned about Rs 3.2 crore.

"Further, the AICF officials are not replying to any e-mails, letters or queries about their decisions. There are no executive committee or general body meetings as per the constitution. The presence of key office-bearers is very rare in such meetings. Further, the minutes of meetings are not shared publicly," Kedge alleged.

He has reason to be upset.

After gathering issues faced by them from several people involved in the game as tournament organisers, arbiters and others, Kedge, as part of the Unrest In Chess India Forum, wrote to AICF President Nitin Narang on October 25, 2025. He also sought an appointment with Narang.

"Till now, I have not received any reply to my letter wherein 22 important issues were raised affecting players, arbiters, tournament organisers and others," Kedge said.

Tournament Fees And Policies Under Scrutiny

One of the issues raised relates to what Kedge describes as undue profiteering by the AICF -- an issue which, he feels, FIDE should also take into account.

While FIDE waived its rating fee for Rapid and Blitz tournaments in 2021 and extended the waiver until 2026, the AICF has been charging organisers of rated Rapid and Blitz tournaments the FIDE fee, he said.

Further, while tournaments without entry fees and prize money are welcomed by parents of young players, the AICF has not shown much interest in encouraging such events, Kedge alleged.

For instance, the Premier Chess Academy, founded by Renjith Balakrishnan, is organising a FIDE-rated international chess tournament called Chess for Everyone in Kerala without charging an entry fee or offering prize money.

But it has not been smooth sailing for Balakrishnan. He has been fighting court cases against the state association, while the AICF has remained silent on the matter, Kedge said.

Critics say players and parents deserve greater credit.

According to Kedge, the achievements of Indian players are primarily the result of their own hard work and the sacrifices made by their parents.

"It is rare to find accomplished players and their parents attributing their success to the measures taken by AICF. That itself speaks volumes about AICF," he added.

While welcoming the AICF's scheme to provide stipends to promising young players, Kedge questioned what had happened to the money collected by the federation from arbiters and others.

While the scheme is said to be a quarterly assistance, the funds are not distributed every quarter.

The AICF has stopped uploading its audited accounts on its web site for the past couple of years, Kedge alleged.

Arbiters have told this correspondent that the state associations and the AICF should maintain a roster of arbiters and that appointments to tournaments should be distributed among them on a rotational basis.

Unrest Forum Turns To Free Coaching

It should be noted that the Unrest In Chess India Forum has not restricted itself to merely complaining about the AICF.

It has also begun providing free chess coaching through several Grandmasters, International Masters, FIDE trainers and others to players of different levels.

For those who take chess seriously, the game can be expensive and place a considerable financial burden on middle-class families. An International Master, for instance, may charge about Rs 1,500 an hour or more for training.

Since not enough high-level rated tournaments are held in India, upcoming players often must spend lakhs of rupees travelling abroad to compete, improve their ratings and earn coveted chess titles.

"Many notable chess masters are willing to give back to the game. There are chess Grandmasters, International Masters and FIDE trainers who are now providing, or have agreed to provide, online chess coaching free of cost," said Mishra, the initiator of the Chess Vidyapeeth programme.

The initiative began some time ago and about 700 players have registered for coaching. The trainees will be categorised according to their playing strength and coached accordingly, Mishra said.

"Currently, online chess coaching is being offered free of cost to about 400 trainees under the Chess Vidyapeeth initiative," he said.

The AICF president was not reachable for his reaction to the FIDE shortlist or the issues raised by people involved in the sport.