The All India Chess Federation (AICF) is central administrative body for the game of chess in India. Founded in 1951, the federation is affiliated to Fédération Internationale des Échecs

Fédération Internationale des Échecs

The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world and acts as the governing body of international chess competition. It is usually referred to as FIDE , its French acronym.FIDE...

, (FIDE), the world body for chess. The AICF has been able to produce champions like Vishwanathan Anand, Manuel Aaron

Manuel Aaron

Manuel Aaron was the first Indian chess master in the modern tradition. He dominated chess in India in the 1960s to the 1980s, was the national champion of India ninetimes between 1959 and 1981...

, Dibyendu Barua

Dibyendu Barua

Dibyendu Barua is a chess Grandmaster from the city of Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. He is the second Indian to become a Grandmaster, after Viswanathan Anand. In 1978, Barua, as a 12-year-old, became the youngest participant in the Indian National Championship of chess...

 and Parimarjan Negi

Parimarjan Negi

Parimarjan Negi is a chess Grandmaster from India. In July 2005, he earned his third and final International Master norm at the Sort International open chess tournament in Sort, Spain...

, in Indian Chess, who have effectively made a mark in the world forum. The organization is also in charge of managing Women's Chess in India. Its current Headquarter is in Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

.

Charges of bureaucratic interference

AICF has come under sustained criticism for bureaucratic incompetence. In October 2009, woman chess GM Humpy Koneru (world no. 2) accused the AICF secretary DV Sundar of preventing her from participating in the 37th Chess Olympiad

37th Chess Olympiad

The 37th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open and women's tournament and the general assembly of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs , took place between 20 May and 6 June 2006, in Turin, Italy.-Open tournament:...

 in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

. The same year the AICF was accused of arbitrarily banning grandmaster G N Gopal for not playing in a match (the ban was subsequently revoked).

In 2010, the AICF president N Srinivasan, was criticized for not supporting Vishwanathan Anand in World Chess Championship 2010, by not trying to host the match in India.

The current president is the owner of India Cements

India Cements

India Cements Limited is a cement manufacturing company in India. It was established in 1946 and the first plant was set up at Sankarnagar in Tamil Nadu in 1949. It has about seven cement manufacturing plants spread over Southern India catering to major markets in South India and Maharashtra...

.

Affiliates

Till date the federation has more than 30 affiliated state associations, 16 special members and 23 recognized academies as its constituents. Here is a list of them:

Affiliated state bodies

• All Assam Chess Association
  All Assam Chess Association
  The All Assam Chess Association is a registered chess association of the Assam state of India. It was formed in the late 1960s by Bodiyuz Zaman from Jorhat. The first president of the association was Kamakhya Prasad Tripathy...
  
  
• All Bihar Chess Association
• All Tripura Chess Association
  All Tripura Chess Association
  The All Tripura Chess Association is the apex body for the game of chess in Tripura, India. It was formed in 1974 and is affiliated with the All India Chess Federation.-Affiliates:ATCA affiliated units are:*Khowai Sub-divisional Chess Association...
  
  
• All Jharkand Chess Association
• Chess Association – Kerala
• Andaman Nicobar Chess Assn
• Andhra Pradesh Chess Association
• All J&K Chess Association
• Chandigarh Chess Association
• Chess Association of Uttaranchal
• Delhi Chess Association
• Gujarat State Chess Association
• H.P.State Chess Association
• Goa State Chess Association
  Goa State Chess Association
  The Goa Chess Association is an association for the game of chess in Goa, India. It was formed in the late 1977s and is affiliated with the All India Chess Federation.-History:...
  
  
• Haryana Chess Association
  Haryana Chess Association
  Haryana Chess Association is the official body for the game of chess in Haryana, India. It was formed in 2008 with the aims and objectives of spreading and promoting the game of Chess in Haryana and is affiliated with the All India Chess Federation...
  
  
• Mizoram Chess Association
• Meghalaya Chess Association
• Manipur Chess Association
• Madhya Kshetra Shatranj Sangh
• Maharashtra Chess Association
  Maharashtra Chess Association
  The Maharashtra Chess Association is the apex body for the game of chess in Maharashtra, India. It was formed in 1963 and is affiliated with the All India Chess Federation.-History:...
  
  
• Nagaland Chess Association
• Orissa Chess Association
• Pondicherry State Chess Assn
• Punjab State Chess Association
• United Karnataka Chess Association
• Tamil Nadu State Chess Association
  Tamil Nadu State Chess Association
  The Tamil Nadu State Chess Association is the apex body for the game of chess in Tamil Nadu, India. It was formed on April 26, 1947 with a view to identifying upcoming chess players and mould them into world-class professionals. The association was earlier known as Madras Chess Club...
  
  
• United Chess Association Of Chhattisgarh
• UP Chess Sports Association
• All Rajputana Chess Association
• West Bengal Chess Association
  West Bengal Chess Association
  The West Bengal Chess Association is the apex body for the game of chess in West Bengal, India. It was formed in the late 1959s and is affiliated with the All India Chess Federation.-Affiliated District Associations:...
  
  
• All Arunachal Pradesh Chess Association

Special units

• Defence Accounts Sports Control Board
• Services Sports Control Board
• Railway sports Promotion Board
• LIC Sports Promotion Board
• All India Chess Federation for the Blind
  All India Chess Federation for the Blind
  The All India Chess Federation for the Blind is the governing body for the game of Chess among visually impaired in India. It was formed in 1997 with a view to promoting the game of chess among the visually impaired all over the country...
  
  
• Indian Bank Central Sports Committee
• Delhi Development Authority
• Petroleum Sports Control Board
• BSNL Sports and Cultural Board
• AAI Sports Control Board
• Air India Sports Promotion Board

Events

AICF has also played host to a number of major world events in India. Some of them are:

• World Junior Championships
• Commonwealth Chess Championship
  Commonwealth Chess Championship
  The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries.-History:A championship was planned for New Zealand in 1949, but it was canceled because the British Chess Federation was unable to attend.-Oxford 1950:...
  
  
• Asian Team Championships