RM Dongre, the strong man of maharashtra chess is a
house name not only in the Indian Chess fraternity but also on the
international platform as his name has become synonymous with one of the
biggest Chess tournaments in the county with a strong player pool,
qualitatively and quantitatively., “The Mumbai Mayors cup or the Mumbai Open”.
His contribution to Maharashtra chess is immense.
RM Dongre has come in the top league and proved to all that with one man's vision and determination and true passion all is possible, shutting all those who chose to walk away from responsibility of working for a cause, by making excuses.
RM Dongre
He is the president of Asian zone 3.7 & treasurer of All India Chess Federation and he very kindly obliged to share his views with us about what goes into a tournament & current Indian chess scenario Just before the onset of ninth edition of mayors cup which is scheduled to begin from 1st June 2016 in Mumbai at the opulent Mount Literra School campus , Bandra Kurla complex.
1 What motivates you to organize such a colossal event annually ?
I am very passionate about the game and passion is useless without contribution. And I figured it's important to be able to provide the platform to players with the same passion for the game. And I do as much as I can.
2. Many Chess events are organized around the county, how does this event stand in comparison to them?
Well, first of all events are important in the way that they help promote the game. But given the location of the tournament, our incentive and state of the art facilities along with the number of national and international players makes it one of the best. Statistically, it's 2nd to Parshavnath tournament, of New Delhi.
3. What are the challenges you face in organizing an event of this magnitude?
Mainly the problem in India is lack of infrastructure, secondly logistics, cost of accommodation, since a lot of players are not local, particularly in Mumbai the tariff rates are very high. It helps us to have state support. However, now with the growing popularity of the tournament, we have an an excellent Hall, at Mount Literal International, School until last year we did face the problem of the lack of steady venue. But now we have Mount Litera to thank for our long commitment.
4. What are the other problems that created hurdles in the promotion of such events?
Of course, the primary issue for promoting any sport in India is cricket, but still with a lot of efforts and goodwill of supporters & sponsors we are making it happen. It would be very helpful if other sports receive more corporate support. Because there would be nothing tragic than not being able to promote and discover real talent just due to lack of sponsorship.
5. How keen are Foreign GMs to participate for this kind championships in our country ?
It's not really a challenge, they look forward to it, most of the GMs have showed great interest in the tournament. Major European events are clashing with the event, yet they chose the Mayor's event.
6.How does participating in an event like this help our Indian players?
It helps with the exposure, networking, a chance of being at a professional level moreover Indian players get to make IM & GM norms.
7. What is the incentive offered to the players?
Total prize fund Rs.27,00,000/- next only to the highest event Parshvnath that is Rs.35,00,000/-
8. Who are the major corporate sponsors for this event?
LIC and Ankit Gems are co-sponsoring this event.
9.What do you have to say about the booming Indian chess especially the junior group?
Well, it's great to see the progress the next generation is making and being able to compete on the international platform with the same level of skills and talent is incredible.
Like Harikrishana who has come into elite group. Followed by
Juniors Abhijeet gupta, Parimarjan Negi , vidit gujrathi Adhiban with an ELO
2675 level have great potential. Youngesters Diptyan Ghosh, Arvindam Chithamram
are also coming up very well. So yes all in all happy news for Indian
chess.
11. Do you have any concern about junior women chess as its not in pace with the developing junior mens section ?
From the junior level especially, we need to relook at the women's chess, there are not too many strong players except Divya Deshmukh from Maharashtra and Mahalaxmi from Tamil Nadu. It's important that we provide them with more opportunities, and incentive to pursue mainstream chess to avoid the gender lag in Chess. The worldwide glass ceiling is believed to be even magnified in sports, so why not turn the tables and make entry and execution in Chess for women doubly smooth.
