B’luru to host its first Chess Grandmaster tourney, Vishy to be chief guest

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Wizards with the pieces and the board are going to graze the city of Bengaluru, as it hosts its first International Grand Master tournament from 18th January.

Around 2,000 participants, including Grandmasters like Nigel Short, Abhijeet Gupta and Karnataka’s own Thejkumar M S will take part in the event.

President of the Karnataka Olympic Association (KOA), MLC and Political Secretary to the Chief Minister K Govindaraju will head the event as a chief patron.

The tournament will inaugurated by CM Siddaramiah along with Vishwanathan Anand. Gindraju also hoped that this tournament will break barriers and inspire people to take up chess.

In the announcement of the tournament, President of the Bangalore Urban District Chess Association (BUDCA) Sowmya M U assured the tournament will be a watershed moment for chess in the state.

“As we see neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra growing with special talent, Karnataka should also unravel its talent pool to the world,” she said.