Sunday, May 24, 2015...

MCL 2015: Bigger, better, stronger!

Over the past few weeks Amruta and I have been traversing different countries in Europe. The wonderful thing in European nations, apart from having some superb open tournaments, is the culture of have having Leagues. The Hungarian Chess League, the French League, the Spanish league... Almost every European nation has its own chess league. Whenever I ask a European player which is his next tournament, he would come up with some or the other league that he is playing in! These leagues actually help the chess players to sustain and pursue the sport. They get paid for every game they play by their owners, irrespective of whether they win or lose. It's a perfect way to improve your game and at the same time have good financial security. "Too bad", says my European friend, in a sadistic tone that there is no chess league in India. While there are no league tournaments that have started at the national level in our country, as a chess player I am relieved that a chess league takes place in India called Maharashtra Chess League (MCL). And guess what, it is already in it's third year!