[1]For years a group of passionate chess players has been spending their weekends, sharing knowledge and challenging each other, at the Anandapradayini Library near the KSRTC Stand in Alappuzha.
These dedicated men who thought of reinstating Alappuzha’s prominence on the chess map decided to host a FIDE rated tournament. The first such event is set to begin at the Town Hall today.
With six International Masters (IM) confirmed and at least 60 participants from various districts also registered for the four-day tournament, this is set to become the biggest chess event in central Kerala.
The Academy for Chess Education (ACE) is the organiser of the event that has a purse of Rs 2 lakh as total prize money. The first four winners will receive Rs 25,000, Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.
There will be special prizes for best players in the categories of women, veteran, blind, Kerala and Alappuzha.
The IMs who have confirmed participation in the event are Tamil Nadu’s Shyam Nikil P. and Nitin S.; Railways’ Malayalee player K. Ratnakaran; D. P. Singh and Himanshu Sharma also representing the Railways and Dhinesh K Sharma of LIC.
There are also two foreigners in the competition — Anna Ranguin from France and Mayuri Karunanayake from Sri Lanka.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/chess-picjpgcropdisplayjpg-772