Chennai, Jul 25 (IANS): Eight young chess players, a pregnant lady and their coach will be hauling the All India Chess Federation (AICF), its affiliate the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association (TNSCA) and the latter’s affiliate Tirunelveli District Chess Development Association (TDCDA) to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for their monopolistic and anti-player action.

The CCI in 2018 had fined AICF a sum of Rs.6.92 lakh and also stopped its anti-player actions. The AICF is silent on the payment of penalty to CCI.

"Eight young students and I were part of two teams – Peculiar Pawns Tirunelveli A and Peculiar Pawns Tirunelveli B- wanting to play in the 30th Tamil Nadu State Team Championship 2024. However the TDCDA Secretary B.Paulkumar refused to give his permission for the teams at the last moment,” Pon Perumal S, CEO and Founder Peculiar PawnS Chess Academy, Tirunelveli told IANS

Perumal said the official reason for TDCDA’s refusal to give its nod is that the teams had players from other districts.

"The real reason could be that the TDCDA got upset as I am organising a private chess tournament in August this year," Perumal alleged.

"As per rules, with a proper `no objection certificate’ from their home district chess association, a player can play for a team from another district. In addition, the entry forms for all the teams should be routed through the respective district associations. Teams that have the permission of the district chess association will only be allowed to participate in the tournament,” Perumal said.

Perumal said entry fees of Rs.3,000 per team were paid to the tournament organisers for two teams through the Signinchess.com along with the player names on July 18, 2024.

The last date for the entries was July 20, 2024 and the tournament start date was July 24, 2024.

He had also sent the player details to TDCDA seeking its recommendation to represent the Tirunelveli District and marked a copy to Dharmapuri District Chess Association and the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.

Soon after paying the fees, Perumal issued the prospectus for the tournament to be organised by him in Tirunelveli.

"It is a private tournament. Soon after I issued the prospectus, the TDCDA Secretary Paulkumar informed the Dharmapuri District Chess Association that the Peculiar Pawns Tirunelveli A and B teams are not recommended as they have players from other districts,” Perumal said.

"Earlier, the team championship organisers had uploaded our team details on www.chess-results.com, including the board order. Later, our teams were removed from the portal,” Perumal said.

When contacted, P. Rajasekaran, joint secretary, Dharmapuri District Chess Association told IANS, "The details of Peculiar Pawns two teams were uploaded on www.chess-results.com based on their mails sent to us as well as the details fed while paying the entry fee. We had over 120 team entries and it was difficult to check each and every entry."

Rajasekaran said on the receipt of mail from Paulkumar, saying that the two Peculiar Pawns teams were not recommended by the TDCDA, their details were removed from www.chess-results.com.

According to Rajasekaran, several other district chess associations had permitted teams with other district players to play in the tournament and it is only the TDCDA that has denied the chance to two such teams.

However, this is not the first time that TDCDA’s Paulkumar is at the centre of the controversy.

Last year, three players - M Karunakaran, 68, V Palanikumar, 58, and Merryston David Scanny, 48- were not allowed to play in the Tirunelveli District Selection tournament at the last moment.

The reason? According to Scanny, Paulkumar did not allow them to play as they had played in a private tournament in Tenkasi district earlier.

In 2019, Paulkumar had barred then 11-year-old Karthik Rahul from playing in a tournament midway on the grounds that he had played in a private tournament

However, no action has been taken by AICF or the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association on these issues, despite complaints being lodged with it.

Going by the past events, Perumal may be right in his surmise that his teams were refused permission as he had announced organising a private chess tournament.

Paulkumar was not available for comments when contacted by IANS.