An “embarrassed” All India Chess Federation (AICF) has filed a police grievance after a Chess Olympiad trophy its staff gained within the final version of the match at residence went lacking from its workplace, forcing the sports activities physique to rearrange for a duplicate of the prized possession and tender an apology. It’s a rolling trophy, and the incident got here at a time when the Indian males’s staff is closing in on the gold medal within the ongoing forty fifth version of the Olympiad at Budapest. AICF sources confirmed that the Gaprindashvili Trophy, given to the staff with the most effective total efficiency throughout open and ladies’s divisions, has gone lacking. India was the final holder of the trophy, having gained it right here in 2022.
AICF vice-president Anil Kumar Raizada informed PTI that the trophy has been lacking for over a month and it got here, after the Worldwide Chess Federation (FIDE) had requested for the trophy to be delivered to Budapest.
“After we had obtained a request from FIDE for the trophy to be introduced, we’ve been unable to hint it for over 30 days. Because of this, we’ve filed an official police grievance, and an investigation will observe,” he mentioned.
A senior AICF official mentioned {that a} “contingency plan is in place” and that “a substitute trophy” has already been ordered for the present version.
“Sure, we tried to search for it throughout following FIDE’s request. Nonetheless, we’ve been unable to find it up to now. It’s certainly an embarrassing scenario, and these items require utter accountability,” the senior official acknowledged on the situation of anonymity.
“For now, a substitute trophy has been ordered. It will not be as distinctive as the unique, however nonetheless, it is going to be near the unique one. We apologise for the mess.” The present version of the Olympiad acquired underway on September 10 and is ready to conclude on September 23.
A complete of 197 groups representing 195 nationwide federations are presently competing within the occasion.
For India, the open staff consists of Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala.
As for the ladies, the aspect contains Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev.
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