The first four events are the Parsvnath Delhi, Chennai Open, Orissa Open and the Mayors Cup of Mumbai. The last four will be played in Nagpur, Pune, Gurgaon and a place in Andhra Pradesh.
Bharat Singh said next year the National Premier will revert back to all-play-all round-robin format. The new format will have nine players qualifying from National Challengers, four top rated, one previous champion in a 14-player event, Chauhan said in a release.
The AICF will fund the organisers six lakh for National Premier and the prize money will be Rs 10 lakh.
The AICF will also organise two Grandmaster closed events per year -- one for men and one for women. This will cost the AICF Rs 20 lakh -- 12 lakh for men and eight lakh for women.
Meanwhile, two new tournaments have been added in the list of National Championships from this year. AICF approved this at its Annual General Meeting here yesterday.
National School Team Chess Championships, National Amateur Chess Championships will be held each year. AICF will follow FIDE Regulations in the line of World Amateur Chess Championships.
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From next year, Indian teams will consist of four top rated players and national champion for team events alone. For exposure trips and all other purposes, top six from Nationals will be considered. Only Viswanathan Anand is exempted from playing National Premier.
Harikrishna will now have to play his first National Premier. He had won World U-10, World Junior and been above 2650. He was never required to play in the National Premier earlier.
The AICF AGM also lauded Anand for his fifth world chess title. It also thanked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha for handing Rs 2 crore to Anand.