The much-awaited 7th National School Chess Championship 2018 started grandly at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology(KIIT) here on Sunday.
As many as 820 players in 12 different categories, Under -7 Boys & Girls, U-9 B &, U-11 B & G, U-13 B & G, U-15 B & G, U-17 B &G, from 25 States (AP, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, MP, Odisha, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal) are participating.
A total 1,500 players and guardians have now gathered at the KIIT for the event.
This is being conducted for the first time in Odisha and organised by the KIIT in association with All India Chess Federation and the All Odisha Chess Association. KIIT and KISS founder Prof Achyuta Samanta inaugurated the even in the presence of International Arbiter Nandakumar and AOCA secretary KK Sharma.
The event would continue till February 1. Total nine rounds will be played in this tournament.