KOCHI: It was indeed a battle of the kings, be it the four-year-old Khayalvizhi Kamesh who hails from Ernakulam or the 78-year-old B S Dutt of Andhra Pradesh, who displayed immense vigour and skill at the 'Battle of Kings', an international FIDE rated chess tournament for players below 1400 ratings was organised by Pawns Chess Academy.
Despite being the second most-attended chess tournament in the history of Kerala with 623 participants, the event maintained the trademark calmness of the sport. The international tourney has three participants from Bangladesh. Rushil Aadheen Reza (10-year-old), Marzouq Chowdhury (11-year- old) and Zaif Khandkar (12-year-old) are participating outside their country for the first time. Other than the three, participants from 15 states across India are battling it out for the championship of Rs 50,000 and a trophy.
'Battle of Kings,' aimed at attracting the public into chess was conducted as per FIDE laws of the sport. "As it mostly caters to beginners, the participants will get international exposure for the first time.
We completely exempted the differently-abled participants from the registration fee which is Rs 300. We gave 50% discount for participants aged above 50 years. Those above 75 were given a 75% discount," said Arun Bose, tournament director.
The event was inaugurated by SAS Navas, secretary, Regional Sports Centre. The event followed the FIDE Swiss system of 9 rounds with three rounds held on each day. It had 135 prizes for winners in different categories and 95 of them were cash awards.
Winners
Ranjith Anand (Kerala) bagged the first prize
( C50,000), Mihir A K (Kerala) secured second position
(C35,000) and Arul Prakash N finished at third position
(C25,000).
The event which commenced on November 30 concluded on December 2 at Regional Sports Centre, Kadavanthra.
The youngest participant
For Khayalvizhi Kamesh, the youngest of the participants, chess is her favourite hobby. The budding talent who is studying in UKG started playing the sport at the age of three. "Being a chess player since childhood, I introduced the game to her. Since then, she has been very enthusiastic about the sport. Currently, she is Kerala's Under-6 rapid champion. 'Battle of Kings' is her second FIDE rated tournament," said Kalaivani, Khayalvizhi's mother.