SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Oct 16: The Chess for Everyone FIDE Rating tournament commenced today at St. Xavier Welfare Centre in Chaibasa, West Singhbhum. This five-day event has attracted a record 216 players from various age groups.
The tournament was inaugurated by West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar, who served as the chief guest. District Sports Officer Rupa Rani Tirki also attended as the guest of honour.
The tournament’s highlight is 91-year-old participant K. Subramanian from Tamil Nadu, who has garnered significant attention.
In his address, Chief Guest Ashutosh Shekhar commended the District Chess Association for organizing the FIDE tournament and expressed optimism about the potential of participants to become Grandmasters in the future.
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He remarked, “This tournament will too become a factory of producing gold medalists,” referencing the success of two Indian players who won gold medals in the Chess Olympiad. Both of these players are students from a school in Chennai.
Mukund Rungta, President of the West Singhbhum District Chess Association, welcomed the guests, while General Secretary Basant Khandelwal provided details about the tournament. Anant Lal Vishwakarma conducted the function, and Arpit Khirwal proposed a vote of thanks.
The tournament features Jayant Kumar Bhuyan, an International Arbiter from Jharkhand, serving as the chief arbiter.
The inauguration was attended by several distinguished guests, including Ujin Ekka, Principal of St. Xavier School; Dipendra Prasad Sab; Sohan Lal Mundra; Chamber President Rajkumar Ojha; Jharkhand Chess Association Vice-President Vijay Kumar Singh; and other local dignitaries such as Kanhaiya Garg, Jahangir Alam, Nirmal Chandra Tripathi, and Pankaj Kumar Singh.