Chess Houseboat 2024 will take place this November in Kerala

Play chess inside a Houseboat!

The highly colourful Chess Houseboat tournament is once again scheduled to be held at the tourist-friendly ‘God’s own country’, the state of Kerala, India from November 23 - 30, 2024. The new attractions this year are the three different places of stay: at the floating houseboat itself in the Vembanadu lake, a beachfront resort at Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala, and a majestic Dutch fort at Cochin. The participants will also have the pleasure of travelling by the new-age Indian luxury train, the ‘Vande Bharat’ express (‘Praise India’ express) on their journey to Trivandrum and back to Cochin.

The chess houseboat is aimed at showcasing the natural beauty of the state, its rich cultural heritage and the traditional cuisine, and is once again supported by the Kerala Tourism, the official department of the state government.

In its new avatar this year, the event will be held for eight days, thus extended by a day compared to its previous editions. There will be an event with a Rapid time control of 20 minutes + 5 seconds per game, carrying a total prize fund of 2300 Euros with a first prize of 500 Euros, and a Blitz event with a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds per game with trophies as prizes. Both will be unrated events with a total of eight rounds, and follow Swiss system rules.

The first two rounds of the rapid event will be played at a floating houseboat in the Vembanadu Lake, the main attraction of the event. Just like the previous editions, the participants will be enthralled by the sights and sounds of the beautiful ambience of the houseboat, as it takes the participants around the vast expanse of the waterscape deep inside the state of Kerala, along the town of Alappuzha.

From Alappuzha, the participants will be taken to Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala, by the premier Vande Bharat trains which have become the norm for luxury travel on wheels of the country in the last few years. The journey covers a distance of 182 kilometres in just about 2.25 hours, in luxurious settings.

The remaining six rounds of the tournament will take place at KTDC Samudra, the luxury beach resort set on the beautiful beach of Kovalam on the outskirts of Trivandrum city, a popular destination for holidaymakers.

The final part of the event moves to the city of Cochin once again, as the participants will get to stay at the luxurious Bolgatty Palace, built by the Dutch in the 18th century and has been converted into a heritage hotel resort. The blitz event and the prize distribution ceremony will be held here.

The event is not about visiting some of the beautiful sights of Kerala, but also about tasting its rich heritage and culture, as the organizers arrange showcase traditional art forms of the state during relaxed evenings.

Kerala has its own great cuisine, which was a great hit during the previous editions of the houseboat events, and it promises to be its own attraction during the event.

The all-inclusive packages for playing the entire event, are pegged at 1200 Euros for each participant, with different discounts and subsidised rates for accompanying persons, participants above 60 years, women participants, and juniors who confirm their entries before June 1, 2024.

Itinerary of the event

The complete package for the tournaments

Package cost

Package includes:

• Airport pick up and drop off

• Rapid & Blitz Chess tournaments entry fees

• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Tea, Snacks & unlimited drinking water from 23/11 evening to 30/11 morning

• Accommodation from 23/11 evening to 30/11 morning

• Houseboat cruises & transportation, Tourism tickets & Cultural performances

Rapid Tournament prizes

Blitz tournament prizes

Further details of the tournament can be had from:

The contact details: 

Prof. N R Anilkumar

passedpawn@gmail.com

Whatsapp +919446230888/ +918281263524

Links

Chess Houseboat

About the Author

Venkatachalam Saravanan is an International Master and has been an active chess player in the Indian circuit, and has been consistently writing on chess since late 1980s. He turned complete chess professional in 2012, actively playing and being a second and a trainer to a handful of Indian players. He reports on chess tournaments, occasionally being a correspondent to national newspapers and news channels. Apart from chess, he is also interested in Tamil and English literature, music and photography.