The State Open Chess Championship organised by Orissa State Chess Association began at Secretariat Recreation Club here on Friday. There is a record entry of 124 players including 20 rated players from 18 districts of the State.
Former state champion Manas Parida is the top seed in the three-day-long eight round Swiss tournament. After the end of 3rd round, 14 players are leading with three points each. Birakishore Behera, Santosh Sinha, Dhiren Das, Pravat Ojha, Tukuna Kandi, Hari Singh, Aditya Pattnaik, Deba Parida, Sahadev Khatei, Manas Singh, Natabara Das, Prahallad Gadnayak, Radhashyam Mishra and Sujit Nayak shared the top place. Govind Das, Vivek Sahoo and Bhimsen Nayak are three players with 2.5 points each.
There are 43 players with two points each.