Dalit protests disrupt IIFLW Mumbai; round 5 postponed to 6.30 p.m.
The fifth round of the Eka by IIFLIM Mumbai tournament 2017-18 has been postponed to 6.30 p.m. IST after the Dalit community declared a bandh (a general strike declared by a political party or community) on Wednesday. Even though the round for the U-13 category -- which was scheduled in the morning -- went smoothly, problems have started to surface with regard to conducting the afternoon round for the open category. We have an official statement from the Tournament Director, FI Praful Zaveri and will be updating this page as and when more information is available.
Mumbai poses a big problem for the IIFLIM 3rd Mumbai International
The Dalit protests in the city have led to the organizers of the 3rd Mumbai IIFLW come to the conclusion that the 5th round of the open section has been delayed to 6.30 p.m. ChessBase India spoke to the tournament director Praful Zaveri, who said, "The morning round of under-13 went smoothly. However, due to the current situation, we have postponed the evening round to 6.30 p.m."
In his official statement, FI Praful Zaveri said:
"In view of the prevailing circumstances, today's round stands postponed to 6.30 p.m. Further announcements would be made depending on the situations."
Watch the space below for further updates.
The main problem for the organizers is that this is a norm tournament. For people to score a norm they have to compulsorily play nine rounds. If one of the rounds gets cancelled, or the tournament is reduced to 8 rounds, it ceases to be a norm event. Also, if the round today is cancelled it cannot be held on any other day because in the morning you have games of the under-13 section. It is a precarious situation for the organizers as well and we call the players to show their support and understanding.