Mumbai: The 16th edition of the “AICFB National Chess Championship for the
Visually Challenged" presented by Onward Technologies commenced on 13th March and will
continue until 18th March at Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini Keshav Srushti, Bhayandar West,
Mumbai.
In the second round, Kishan Gangolli of Karnataka played with white pieces against Somendra
of Delhi. Kishan opted for Queen’s gambit exchange opening and up to the middle game hold
the position. Somendra who represented India with the team last year tried his best to stop the
Kishan. The six-time consecutive AICFB National Chess Champion showed his excellence in a
fine endgame, forcing Somendra to surrender.
At the end of the third round, Kishan Gangolli, Aryan B Joshi, and Soundarya Kumar Pradhan
are in joint first place with 3 full points.
On the top board, Patra Subhendu Kumar of Odisha played with white pieces against Kishan Gangolli of Karnataka, who opted for a French defense. Subhendu played passively from the beginning, The former champion took advantage of this and finished the game smoothly.
On the second board, Darpan Inani of Gujarat played against his statemate, Makwana Ashvin
K. Ashvin opted for the Scandinavian defense and managed to maintain an equal position from
the beginning. Both players finally signed for peace on the 47th move.
On the third board, Shahsidhar K M of Karnataka played with white pieces against Soundarya
Kumar Pradhan of Odissa. Shashidar opted for stonewall defense, trying to play safely, during
an exchange of pieces, Soundarya took material advantage and thereafter played calmly and
was forced to surrender on the 49th move.
A total of 56 players (all visually challenged) have been selected to take part in this prestigious
tournament on the basis of their performance at the state and zonal chess tournaments
conducted all over India. There will be a selection of the Indian team of four players for the
forthcoming World Individual Chess Championship in the month of October in Greece.
Twelve players in the categories of totally blind (B1) and partially blind (B2 & B3) will be selected for the
upcoming Asian Para Games that will be held in October in Hangzhou, China.
About AICFB: All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) has been established in 1997 to promote the game of chess amongst the blind in India. AICFB is a non-profit organization, affiliated to International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) the apex world body for chess for the blind and AICF (recognized by Government of India). Through this affiliation, we integrate our blind chess players with rest of the world.
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