In order to support the aspiration of Tamil Nadu Government to have 100 Chess Grand Masters in the State, TNSCA – Tamil Nadu State Chess Association began conducting Tamil Nadu Chess International Masters (IM) Norm Closed Circuit Tournaments from September 2023 onwards.

A chess player must first earn the title International Master before he can attempt to become a Grand Master. Any player who has 3 IM norm and 2400 points will become eligible to get the International Masters Title. The 3 IM norms should include 2 from Closed Circuit tournaments and 1 from Open tournaments.

An international masters norm tournament must have 40% of players from different countries. So generally, participating in it becomes a bit challenging for some players since they need to travel abroad and look after their accommodation, etc.

A player would have to spend around Rs.3-5 lakh to take part in these international masters tournaments. Since Tamil Nadu has strong players who display the potential to become IMs and Grand Masters, and the Government is also aspiring to produce more Grandmasters, TNSCA and its sponsors joined hands to organise the tournaments within Tamil Nadu itself. Due to this, players competing in this tournaments will only need to spend up to Rs.10,000.

President of TNSCA, M.Manickam told reporters on Thursday that TNSCA has organised 25 such tournaments within Tamil Nadu in the 1 year (September 2023 - August 2024), and the results have been very positive.

The Outcomes are Impressive!

India on the whole has produced about 30 IM norms in the last one year; 13 such norms were produced through the IM Norm Tournaments and out of that, 10 norms were obtained by players from Tamil Nadu. 12 chess players from India were awarded the IM Title in the last 1 year and 4 are participants from the IM Norm Tournament.

The quality of the players competing in these tournaments are high. Players with rating of 2100 across India and the world are being invited, and they find the competition valuable. 

“We are aiming to create 10 international masters in Tamil Nadu per year via these tournaments. If that is achieved, that can help the state create more Grand Masters,” Manickam said.

When asked when can Tamil Nadu achieve 100 Grand Master goal, he said "4 International Masters have been produced so far. If we put similar efforts, per year we can create 10 IMs. Tamil Nadu already has 30 Grand Masters. So in 6 years, we hope to create 60+ International masters, and once we do that, in the next 2 years, we can have 100 Grand Masters."

Those who get International Master's title can avail various supports from Tamil Nadu Govt in their Chess pursuit.

The next 5 tournaments - 26th to 30th IM Norms Tournament (Closed Circuit) will be held in Coimbatore from 30th August to 7th of October. It will be sponsored by M.Manickam who also heads the Shakthi Group of Industries.