Kaziranga Chess Carnival

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1st Kaziranga Chess Carnival

The first Kaziranga Chess Carnival was successfully held in Kaziranga with the participation of 161 competitors. The tournament was held at Borgos Resort in Kaziranga on Sunday in the Under-10, Under-15 and Open categories. Soram Rahul Singh won the open category. He received Rs 25,000 cash, a trophy and a certificate. The second and third prizes went to Pallavi Dutta and Nilab Jyoti Barthakur respectively. Prajit phukan came fourth, Rituraj Tamuli fifth, Pratyusha Kiran Bargohain sixth, Mrinmay Rajkhowa seventh, Subrat Nandi Roy eighth, Prachurya Gayan ninth and Rakesh Chakraborty tenth. The tournament was organized by the Aghon Foundation in collaboration with the Assam Chess Club. In the Under-10 category, Arjit Alay Hazarika, Abhyuday Lahkar and Delicha Ahmed Jilani won first, second and third prizes. In the Under-15 category, Mugdha Keot, Arunav Bharlua and Abhishek Bardoloi won first, second and third prizes respectively. The first 10 winners in two categories, 10 years and under 15 years, were awarded scholarships totaling Rs 2 lakh. Mugdha Keot won the best player award and Raktotpal Gogoi won the youngest player award. The youngest player in the tournament was 6 years old Raktotpal Gogoi.  The tournament was supervised by international Arbiter and former Indian coach Biswajit Bhardwaj as the Tournament Director. The tournament was inaugurated by Khumtai MLA Mrinal Shaikia at 9 am on Sunday. Abhijit Gogoi, founder and director of Aaghun Foundation, said the first one-day Kaziranga Chess Carnival is the first step to hold a world-class chess competition in Kaziranga every year. The Aaghun Foundation has been undertaking various programs with the aim of making tourism in Kaziranga sustainable and versatile and making tourism possible in Assam throughout the year. The first ever Kaziranga Chess Carnival is part of this effort, said Abhijit Gogoi, Director, Aaghun Foundation. International arbiter and former Indian coach Biswajit Bhardwaj said the participation of chess players from different parts of the state in the Kaziranga Chess Carnival was encouraging. The tournament is being held in accordance with all international standards of chess. The second edition of the Kaziranga Chess Carnival will be held in late May or early June next year.

The event is first of its kind in Kaziranga which is otherwise known for the National Park. The last major chess event was held in Kaziranga way back in 2005.