Tournament Report: 17th AICFB National Premier Chess Championship for Visually Challenged 2023-24

 

17th AICFB National Chess Championship for Visually Challenged was organized by All India Chess Federation for the blind and hosted by Aryan Care Foundation Bangalore, Karnataka, 6 days event was being held from 20th Dec to 25th Dec 2023.The prestigious chess championship for the visually impaired was inaugurated on 20th Dec 2023 at Padukone – Dravid Centre for sports Excellence, Bangalore, Karnataka. This championship is the top most selection tournament for Visually Challenged in India. The top 12 players of this tournament are selected to represent India in forthcoming Purple International Chess Festival for Visually Challenged 2024, Goa.

A total of 40 players qualified from different parts of the country who fought to wear the championship crown (qualified from four different zones. West Zone, South Zone, East Zone and North zone.  Defending Champion Kishan Gangolli was the top seeded player with ELO rating of 2032, followed by Saikrishna S T of Tamil Nadu 1734 and Patra Subhendu Kumar of Odisha 1732 respectively 2nd & 3rd seeded players.

This championship was conducted in Swiss league system consist of 9 rounds. The top seeded player won their game easily in the early stage. In the third round Ashvin Makwana of Gujarat shared the point with Kishan Gangolli and Saikrishna S T of Tamil Nadu Shared the point with his state mate Marimuthu K. The championship was a sea saw tournament as many seeded players shared the points unexpectedly. At the end of the 8th round Defending Champion Kishan Gangolli of KAR and Patra Subhendu Kumar Odisha were leading the race with 6.5 points. In the 9th Round Kishan Played against Rafik S of Tamil Nadu and won the game comfortably and clinched 17th AICFB National Premier Chess Championship for Visually Challenged 2023-24. Patra Subhendu Kumar scored 7 points and Ashvin Makwana K scored 6.5 points secured 2nd & 3rd place respectively.

Kishan Gangolli with his impressive performance became the champion for the 8th time which is the record in itself.

The Championship was organized in a wonderful venue Padukone – Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence (CSE) is a fully integrated, first-of-its-kind sporting hub, spread across 16 acres, providing world-class, hassle-free infrastructure across 9 different sports including Badminton, Cricket, Football, Tennis, Swimming, Shooting, Squash, Basketball, and Volleyball for high-performance athletes, qualified coaches and recreational users. The organizers provided wonderful accommodation, excellent playing facilities and delicious food throughout the event.

Sri D P Anantha President Karnataka State Chess Association, Sri Rajashekar M P Trustee Aryan care Foundation,Smt Vasanthi Hariprakash Journalist & Podcaster, Sri Jayaram Founder Green Path Hotel, Aryan Surya S A World Chess Boxing Champion ( U 15,2022 Turkey) and Dr Manish Thool Secretary All India Chess Federation For The Blind dignitaries  distributed the prizes to winners.

1st Prize Kishan Gangolli – Rs 35000/- + Trophy,
2nd Prize  Patra Subhendu Kumar Rs 25000/- Trophy,
3rd Prize Makwana Ashvin K– Rs 15000/-, + Trophy,
4th Prize Samant Milind, 5th Prize Shashidhar K M Rs 8000/-
6th Prize Swapnil Shah Rs 7000/-.