The Chess Culture at IIT Kanpur
Chess Club IITK organizes a variety of events and initiatives throughout the academic year to encourage active participation from the campus community. These include the annual championship cycle, comprising events such as the Candidates Tournament, the Grand Swiss, the Chess Cup, and the Speed Chess Championship. IIT Kanpur also conducts India’s Biggest Collegiate Chess League – CMPL, with the most recent edition having a 9 Lakh+ prize pool and 1500+ participants. The institute regularly holds practice sessions, internal tournaments (with 100+ participants), and street chess to help players gain consistent over-the-board experience. The IIT Kanpur chess team has brought numerous laurels to the club.
Fresher’s Chess League 2025
IITK Candidates ‘25-’26
IIT Kanpur also honoured Sir Vishwanathan Anand with an honorary doctorate in 2016.
With relatively few top-tier tournaments regularly held in Kanpur, a significant pool of emerging talent often remains underexposed, and IITK saw this as an opportunity to expand its reach to the next level. The whispers about conducting a FIDE-rated tournament have been around at the Club for the past 3-4 years. But due to logistical constraints, the very hectic academic calendar, and other limitations, the Club was unable to turn this dream into a reality. That is, until now. Chess Club IIT Kanpur takes a significant step forward by organizing the first FIDE-rated rapid Chess Tournament with a whopping prize pool of 2,00,000 INR.
We cordially invite chess players from clubs, institutions, and independent backgrounds to join us for this special occasion - IIT Kanpur
Main Prizes
