New Delhi: The fifth event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour, which was scheduled to be held in Delhi in September, has been cancelled due to the lack of sponsors. The co-founder, Jan Henric Buettner, confirmed the news to Chess.com after the removal of the Delhi leg from the official website.
After the successful shows in Weissenhaus, Paris, and Karlsruhe, this was supposed to be the fifth event of the inaugural Grand Slam. Currently, Grand Master Magnus Carlsen is at the top with a lead of 65 points after winning two events.
The cancellation of the event is a big disappointment for the country, especially when Indian chess is at its historic peak. D. Gukesh recently made history by becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion, while R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and Nihal Sarin have consistently demonstrated India’s rise as a global chess powerhouse.
The next event is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas on July 16-20. Carlsen was recently seen in action against the nine-year-old Aarit Kapil, who came close to defeating the current No.1-ranked player.
When the co-founder was asked about the possible replacement, he said that they will do something for the September leg, but the official announcement has yet to be made. “We will do something special for the September leg of the tour instead. This will be announced after Las Vegas,” Buettner added.
Buettner also revealed that he is planning to step down from his role as CEO. He has also revealed in the previous interview that he wants to take up a more executive role instead. His tenure as CEO is set to end on July 1.
What’s next for the Indian Chess player?
With the cancellation of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, the next event for India’s top chess players will be the Chennai Grand Masters, starting August 6. The tournament comprises a 10-man round-robin format with stars like Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, Anish Giri, and many others set to participate.