First international chess tournament concludes in Agartala

Agartala : First ever international open FIDE rated chess tournament concludes in Agartala.

The five-day tournament was organised by the All Tripura Parents Chess Forum at the Sahid Bhagat Singh youth hostel in Khejurbagan.

This is the first ever big chess tournament held in the state in which 139 players other than locals also from various other states like West Bengal, Manipur, Assam, Mizoram, Delhi and Punjab participated.

The main aim of the tournament is boosting local player's morale, encouraging building more substantial chess infrastructure, providing more guidance to players and incentivizing their effort to make a career out of this sport and spreading chess throughout among the younger generation.

Tripura is the third smallest state in the country, with one-third population being formed of scheduled tribes. Yet, such is the grandeur of the state, where parents of the state forms up a chess forum for the development of the sport in their culture as chess has proved itself since ages for its good ridden benefits.

Participating players expressed that more such tournaments organising thereby boosting chess as a sport and has always been synonymously used when it comes to mind development.

The prize distribution function on the concluding day was attended by the Tripura Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sahid Chowdhury who distributed laurels and prizes among the winners.

Local veteran chess player of the state Prasenjit Dutta cinched the 1st position and became champion. He defeated top-seed Rajdip Sarkar of West Bengal in the morning and Rahul Singh of Assam in the afternoon to clinch the title as well as to bag the highest cash prize of Rs 30 thousand.

While Rahul Singh Sorum of Assam secured the second position and a cash prize of Rs 20 thousand while with seven points each , Dhanbir Singh of Assam , Samrat Ghoroi of West Bengal and Sahil Dey of Assam secured 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions respectively.

The chess tournament organised here will calculate the rating points which will be published formally by the all India chess association (AICA).