Patna: 12th National School Chess Championship 2024 got off to a colourful start at the Gyan Bhawan auditorium in Patna on Tuesday. The tournament is being organized at the joint aegis of Bihar State Sports Authority and All Bihar Chess Association.
About 1000 players from about 29 states and union territories of India are participating in this tournament. This tournament is being played in Under 7 age group, Under 9, Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, Under 17 Open and Girls category. About 250 players from Bihar are participating in this championship. This tournament is being organized for the first time in Bihar. The winning players in different age groups of the tournament will be given medals and trophies along with a total cash prize of more than Rs 5 lakh. The tournament will conclude with the prize distribution ceremony on February 10.
The tournament was inaugurated by Arjuna Awardee Grandmaster Praveen Thipsay, who was present as the chief guest. On this occasion, as special guests, Dr. B. Rajendra, Principal Secretary, Sports Department, Government of Bihar, Mrs. Vandana Preyasi, Secretary, Environment and Climate Change Department, along with Director General of Bihar State Sports Authority, Raveendran Sankaran, Director and Joint Secretary, Pankaj Kumar Raj, Secretary of All India Chess Federation Ajit Kumar Verma, President of All Bihar Chess Association Diljit Khanna and Secretary Dharmendra Kumar were present.
BH Basant is the chief judge of the tournament and Anand Babu, Anil Kumar Raizada and Swapnil Bansod are playing their role as joint chief judges and along with them is a team of about 50 judges from different states of India.
In this tournament, a total of nine rounds will be played and the winner will be decided on the basis of the points obtained.
Under 17 girls
Playing with white pieces on the first board, Nilaya Krishna of Andhra Pradesh defeated Suhani of Rajasthan, while Pari Sinha of Bihar, playing with white pieces on the number two board, surprised everyone by holding Anupam Sri Kumar of Kerala to a draw.
Under 17 boys
Goyal Daksh of Delhi defeated D Raja Kumar of Telangana while playing with black pieces on the first board.
Under 15 girls
On the first board, Shirley Patnaik of Uttarakhand, playing with black pieces, defeated Usha Thanmai Sri of Andhra Pradesh.
Under 15 boys
Rautela Sadbhav of Uttarakhand, playing with black pawn, defeated Rudransh Kumar of Punjab on board number one.
Under 13 girls
Anmuktha Guntka of Andhra Pradesh defeated Ashrita Balaji playing on the first board with white pieces.
Under 13 boys
Nimay Agarwal of Haryana defeated Abhirup Thakur of West Bengal while playing with black pieces on the first board. On the second board, Mohammad Riyan of Bihar started his winning campaign by registering an easy win against Achint Kashyap playing against white pieces.
Under 11 Girls
Vedika Pal of Maharashtra defeated Ahana Dalbera of West Bengal while playing with black pieces on the first board.
Under 11 boys
Hemal Varshan of Andhra Pradesh, playing with white pieces on the first board, won a tough match against Achyut Shankar Jha of Bihar.
Under 09 Girls
Saravan Girdal of Andhra Pradesh got a walk over on the first board, where Shervanika of Tamil Nadu got the advantage due to non-appearance. On the other hand, playing with black pieces, Parihar Kiana of Rajasthan defeated Hunar Kapoor of Haryana.
Under 09 Boys
Advik Amit Agarwal of Maharashtra defeated Chandraprakash of Bihar while playing with black pieces on the first board. While on the second board, Arit Kapil of Delhi registered an easy victory.
Under 7 girls
Aranya R of Tamil Nadu. Defeated Giana Garg of Chandigarh while playing on the first board with white pieces.
Under 7 boys
Shivaay Singh of Uttar Pradesh defeated Nihansh Khode of Maharashtra while playing with black pieces on the first board.
From tomorrow the morning rounds of the tournament will be played at 9.30 am while the afternoon rounds will be played at 3.30 pm.
