14th KIIT International Chess Festival 2023 kickstarts today, total prize money Rs 32 lakh

Bhubaneswar, June 11: The 14th KIIT International Chess Festival 2023 was inaugurated today at the Viswanathan Anand International Hall in KIIT-DU with participation of over 1,200 competitors from 20 nations across the world. For the first time, the tournament is having a prize money of Rs 32 lakh.

The tournament, which will continue till June 18, got kickstarted in the presence of Bharat Singh Chauhan Chairman FIDE Advisory Board and Deputy President Asian Chess Federation, Naresh Sharma Treasurer All India Chess Federation (AICF), Joint-Secretary AICF Ranjan Mohanty, President All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA) GC Mohapatra, Secretary AOCA Debabrata Bhatta, Tournament Director IM Sekhar Chandra Sahu and Founder KIIT and KISS Prof Achyuta Samanta.

This unique tournament will see a huge participation of over 1,200 players from 20 nations of the world including India. Out of them 14 are Grand Masters, more than 50 International Masters and several players from various indigenous communities.

It can be mentioned here that the 14th KIIT International Chess Festival 2023 is one of the best four Grand Master Chess Tournaments in Asia. As the first only institution in India to be granted institutional membership by AICF, KIIT-DU is holding such a grand tournament for the first time in Odisha. The university is promoting the international chess festival for last 14 years. The event is jointly organised by Odisha Government, AICF, Sports Authority of India, AOCA, FIDE and KIIT-KISS.

Earlier, KIIT-KISS has organised more than 30 National and International chess tournaments and produced 46 International players. The KIIT-KISS has also promoted chess in rural areas and for the first time an International Chess Tournament , the Asian Cities Chess Championship 2018 was held at Kalarabanka Smart Village, Raghunathpur, Cuttack and it was well appreciated by people and chess enthusiasts.

The Chess In School Programme of FIDE has been inducted in Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, becoming the first school in India to implement such an ambitious programme to popularise chess among school students.