International Master K. Priyadarshan, who has an Elo rating of 2363, Asian U-14 gold medallist Srija Seshadri and World U-14 bronze medallist J. Saranya are some of the prominent names in the third Modern School international Fide rating chess championship, starting from Monday. More than 300 promising youngsters from various parts of the country will be seen in action. According to the organisers, nearly 100 rated players are expected to take part.

Modern Senior Secondary School, Nanganallur, is sponsoring the exclusive event for school students. The CBSE school is footing all the expenses involved in the conduct of the six-day tournament.

The total prize money at stake is Rs 1 lakh. The winner will receive Rs 25,000 and an impressive trophy. There are cash prizes for the first 12 on the main list besides six special awards for different age categories. WGM and Arjuna awardee S. Vijayalakshmi will inaugurate the event.

The 10-round event will be played in Swiss format. V. Ravichandran, Mount Chess Academy chief coach and coordinator of the tournament, said Modern School has earned a name for itself on the national circuit. “There has been a sharp increase in the number of participants this year. We have confirmed representations from 10 states this year. The classical event offers a great chance for players without rating to make a mark. Rated players have also been evincing interest to move up the Elo ladder. This is one of the best schools tournament in the country,” he added.

Daily results and pairings will be updated on www.tamilchess.com,

www.chess-results.com and www.mountchess.com.

Modern shows the way
S. Pattabiraman, secretary of the school, said his institution’s association with chess started with the success of GM K. Sasikiran. “He studied in our school and his exploits were a big motivation for us. Sasi continues to be an inspiration for our students. Mount Chess Academy coaches have been training our students exclusively. With the support of the state and national chess associations, Modern international rating tournament is gaining strength with every edition. Modern Senior Secondary School management is delighted to play a small part in popularising chess,” he added.
Pattabiraman informed that the school gives scholarships to meritorious students in disciplines such as cricket, chess, tennis and table tennis. “We also ensure that those in the sports field pay equal attention to academics,” he said.
According to Pattabiraman, Modern has become a chess hub in the country among CBSE schools. “We conducted the southern zonal chess tournament in 2004 and 2006. The crowning glory was organising the all-India championship in 2007,” he added.
Principal K. Mohana said Modern’s thrust has always been on holistic development. “Chess is a key sport for us because it can also help students focus better on their studies. Our former student and chess champion Pon. Krithika was ranked No. 1 in engineering sports quota admission last year. From Sasikiran to Krithika, we have produced a number of top performers. National level tennis player Sandhya Nagaraj passed out from our school. R.N. Keerthana is doing well in cricket. R. Abhinay (TT) and Sabareesh Hariharan (tennis) have been doing our school proud,” she added.