SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Dec 20: The three-day Dhanbad Open Chess Championship, for the Mahendra Memorial Trophy, will feature over 100 senior and junior players, including 20 international-rated participants. The event will take place from December 27 to 29 at the PK Roy Memorial College conference hall.
General Secretary of Dhanbad District Chess Association, Mukesh Sinha, announced that the decision to hold the open chess championship was made during a meeting on Thursday evening.
Notable international-rated players confirmed to participate include Vikash Kumar Sinha (rating over 2200), Dhananjay Mahto, Raja Bose, Balkrishna Verma, and Manoj Singh (all senior players). Junior players such as Aditya Sinha and Abhimanyu Singh will also compete.
All Jharkhand Chess Association (AJSCA) state coordinator and International Arbiter, Prabhat Kumar Ranjan, also attended the meeting. Additionally, Joint Secretary Dr. Dhananjay Singh, Treasurer Naresh Kumar Sinha, Dr. Sanjay Singh, and Joint Secretary Rajan Sinha were present on the occasion.
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Revival of the Dhanbad Open Championship
This will be the first open chess championship in Dhanbad in four years. Once considered a hub for chess activities in Jharkhand, Dhanbad’s district chess scene had declined, with former players claiming the activities stagnated after International Master (IM) Neeraj Kumar Mishra’s tenure as the district chess body secretary.
Mishra, who was also the secretary of the Jharkhand Chess Association, did not dedicate enough time to the Dhanbad district body, resulting in a paralysis of local chess activities.
Challenges and changes in leadership
In 2013, when Neeraj Mishra became the secretary of Dhanbad, founder-secretary Arvind Kumar Sinha, the first treasurer of the Jharkhand Chess Association, distanced himself from the game.
Senior officials Binod Saw and Prabhat Ranjan relocated to Hazaribagh and Bokaro, respectively, to continue promoting chess.
Mishra left Jharkhand in 2021 after becoming the second International Master and International Arbiter of the country, resigning from both the Jharkhand Chess Association and Dhanbad District Chess Association due to a dispute with the state president, Pradeep Verma (MP).
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Renewed chess activities in Dhanbad
After Mishra’s departure, Dhanbad district hosted a senior championship in April 2024, marking the return of competitive chess after a four-year hiatus.
Now, the district is organizing the open championship, signaling the revival of chess activities in the region.
