39 Indians will travel to Aeroflot Open 2018 fully sponsored by the Government

One of the major hurdles that chess players all over India face is the lack of exposure. It's true that Indian players are extremely talented and the circuits in India are pretty strong, but every once in a while it is important to play in foreign conditions, get acquainted to different styles of play and different regions with their cuisines, customs and climate! But whenever someone plans a trip like this, the first question that comes to mind is finance. Many of the young talents in our country are unable to go to International events because of financial constraints.

The All India Chess Federation under the leadership of Bharat Singh Chauhan has made a brilliant move. It has reinstated the foreign exposure trips that used to happen a few years ago in India. This year 35 of our players along with four officials have been selected for this exposure trip at the full cost of Government!

We spoke to Bharat Singh Chauhan after this wonderful news and he said, "We had chosen the Gibraltar Masters to send our team. However, the organizer of Gibraltar was not so keen on so many Indians coming to his event and hence we chose the Aeroflot Open. It is one of the strongest tournaments in the world and will provide good exposure for our players. I would like to especially thank our sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Sports Authority of India for making this possible. It is a great moment for Indian chess that our Government is supporting the sport."

All the costs of the players will be covered. This includes the cost of local travel, international travel, lodging, boarding, visa and travel insurance. One of the officials will be ChessBase India's very own Niklesh Jain. He will ensure that our readers get excellent coverage of the event.

The Aeroflot Open begins on the 20th of February 2018. We asked Bharat Singh about the time paucity for the visas to be issued to the players, to which the Secretary was quite positive, "We are in talks with the Aeroflot organizer and everything will be done in time."

Vidit Gujrathi will be the top seed at this prestigious event

Vidit won the Tata Steel Challengers and qualified for the Masters in 2019. If he wins the Aeroflot he will get direct entry into the closed super tournament in Dortmund.

Confirmed list of players in the A group (2550+)

Confirmed list of players for B group (2550-2300)

Confirmed list of players for C group:

Check out the players' list of Group A