Appalling conditions greets chess players

AURANGABAD JULY 15: The All-India Open FIDE rating tournament, the first-ever chess meet in the Marathwada region, began on the wrong foo...

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AURANGABAD JULY 15: The All-India Open FIDE rating tournament, the first-ever chess meet in the Marathwada region, began on the wrong foot here today. It was a case of total mismanagement as the opening round, scheduled for a 1.00 pm start, was delayed by almost two hours. All 205 participants were first made to wait for about 40 minutes before the organisers — Omkar Buddhibal Mandal announced that the round will start at 2.30 p.m.

The main cause of the delay, it was known, was the pairing list. The organisers realised, as late as this morning, that they didn’t have the latest FIDE rating list of the players! They, apparently, never bothered to contact the All-India Chess Federation for the list resting assured that a player would get it along. Chief arbitor Rajendra Sagar was overhead saying this morning,“ We depended on Vishal Sareen to get the ranking list from the Internet. And that’s why we didn’t contact AICF secretary Ummer Koya.”

However, when Sareen failed to bring the list along, theorganisers were seen running from pillar to post at the eleventh hour. To compound confusion, the organisers accepted entries till 12.30 p.m.

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Moreover, the arrangements at the venue, the Marathwada Sanskritik Mandal Hall are appalling. The hall is a closed one, has inadequate lighting and is devoid of fans. When requested by some players to make arrangement for fans, the organisers were reportedly quoted saying: “You will have to pay for fans.” The organisers were seen patching up their faults with last-minute arrangements for lights. However, fans seem to be a distant dream for players.

But the agony is not over yet. Appalling accommodation facilities have forced players to seek better alternatives. Players, who were huddled in groups of six in each room complained of unhygienic conditions including dirty toilets, with bedbugs for company. When it was brought to the notice of Sagar, husband of OBM secretary Anjali Sagar, he very proudly said: “At least we have provided better facilities than theothers. And if the players have problems about bedbugs, there is nothing we can do.”