State school chess championship begins at SOA

Bhubaneswar: More than 200 children are taking part in the two-day All Odisha School Chess Championship which kicked off at the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) campus here on Friday.

The championship, organised by All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA) in association with SOA, has a prize money of Rs. one lakh. Children in the age group of five to 15 from across the state are participating in the tournament.

SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, who was the chief guest at the inaugural function, said the championship aimed to popularize Chess in the state at a time when the sport was witnessing emergence of new talents in India.

The function was also addressed by Mr. Suresh Chandra Sahoo, International Arbiter, AOCA, Mr. Debabrata Bhatta, Secretary, AOCA, Mr. Shankar Mishra, Treasurer, AOCA and Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, SOA’s Dean (Students’ Welfare).

Prof. Das said that sport was a medium through which a person could imbibe discipline in life. Describing chess as a sport which was different from other such activity, he said it activated the brain. SOA’s Sports Officer Ms. Sunita Burma was also present.