India’s ‘golden generation’ of chess players is relishing its triumph in the Chess Olympiad in both the Open and Women’s sections. Hailed as ‘super heroes’, ‘role models’ and ‘kings and queens of 64 squares’ after their remarkable display in Budapest, the likes of D Gukesh, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev are busy soaking in all the adulation coming their way.
At a felicitation function organised by the All India Chess Federation (AICF), the players were the cynosure of all eyes, with every word spoken, every statement made by them receiving a thunderous applause.
Capturing the sentiments of the nation, the federation announced £320,000 as reward for the members and coaching support staff of the team. AICF president Nitin Narang made the announcement. Each player from the winning teams will receive Rs 25,00,000, while the coaches of the men’s and women’s teams, Abhijeet Kunte and Srinath Narayanan, will be rewarded with Rs 15,00,000 each. Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, head of the Indian delegation, will receive Rs 10,00,000, and the four assistant coaches – Swayams Mishra, Vaibhav Suri, Arjun Kalyan and Sankalp Gupta – will get Rs 750,000 each.
