Qualification Criteria

1. All Grandmasters are directly seeded for the Championship
2. All Women Grandmasters are directly seeded for the Championship
3. CPAI will be organizing 5 tournaments in the different cities, each tournament will have three qualification seats.
4. Poona Club will be organizing three Blitz Tournaments at Pune, each tournament will have 1 Qualifier.
5. Poona Club will be organizing a Blitz Tournament at Pune on 29^th October which will have three Qualification seats.
6. Two Poona Club Nominees
7. Two CPAI Nominees
8. One MCA President Nominee
9. Remaining players will be according to the October Rating List.
10. If any selected players opt not to play in the tournament, reserves will be fielded according to rating.