Mangaluru: KIOCL Limited, a Govt. of India Enterprise, have conducted two days’ All India open FIDE rating Rapid Chess Tournament-2022, named “4th Kudremukh Trophy” on Jan 1, 2, at Nehru Bhavan, KIOCL Township, Kavoor, Mangalore.
This National Chess Tournament consisted of 165 trophies with cash prizes worth Rs.2,00,000/-. The valedictory ceremony was held at the twilight hour on Jan 02. This was an opportunity to showcase the creativity of the brilliant aspirants.
The National level Chess Tournament was inaugurated by Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Dakshina Kannada District, Sri Nalin Kumar Kateel, and the Commissioner, Mangalore City Corporation Sri Akshy Sridhar, IAS, on 1st January 2022 by lighting the Lamp, unveiling the Trophy and moving the Pawns on the Demo Chess Board.
The Tournament was conducted smoothly under the guidance of the International Arbiter Sri. Salim Beigh and Deputy Arbiters Sri Sakashath. There were a total of 291 participants from all over India, especially from Goa, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka etc., with the youngest player being 5 years and the eldest being 82 years old. The event was a witness for the Grand Masters, International Masters. The proud first prize winner in the Open category was International Master Sri. Pranav V. from Tamilnadu. Sri Manigandan SS from Tamilnadu was the 1st runner up and Sri Balakishan A. from Karnataka was the 2nd runner up. Prizes were distributed for the categories in Open Level, under 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 years in both male and female categories. Also, prizes were distributed for Dakshina Kannada player categories and special prizes were distributed for the youngest players and veteran players.
The Valedictory Ceremony was organised on 2nd January 2022. The Chief Guest of the function Sri M. Venkatesh, Managing Director, MRPL, KIOCL Chairman cum Managing Director Sri.T. Saminathan, Director(Finance) Sri.Swapan Kumar Gorai, Director(Production & Projects) Sri Bhaskara Reddy KV, General Manager (Production) & President, KIOCL Chess Tournament Committee Sri Ramakrishna Rao H., DKCA President Sri. Ramesh Khota, the coordinator, were present on the dais. Sri S. Murgesh, Sr. Manager(HR&A) & Chess Tournament Co-ordinator briefed the audience on the activities of the tournament.
The Tournament gained applause from all the senior participants and the parents of junior participants for the ambience and hospitality of the KIOCL Chess Tournament Committee including strict compliance of COVID-19 preventive health measures and Govt. guidelines etc. They have also expressed that they are waiting to participate in such laudable Tournaments and conveyed heartfelt thanks for the nice arrangements and hospitality made for this National Level Tournament at KIOCL Ltd., Mangalore, which is highly commendable and needs to be encouraged.
