December 2024 and January 2025 brings five GM tournaments in India

Unbelievable offer of 2 cars, 6 bikes and 100 cycles at 4th Athens of the East GM Tournament in Madurai

The festive months December and January have a chess treat to offer – a series of five GM tournaments, starting with two back to back tournaments at Bhubaneswar, Madurai during the Christmas season, Chennai during the pre Pongal festival and finally at Goa, after Pongal. Sure, all the five tournaments with many players from foreign countries are bound to attract our players in bulk and expected to have exciting games and fights.

15th KIIT International Chess Festival, Bhubaneswar - 2nd to 9th December 2024

The festive season begins with the 15th edition of the KIIT International Chess Festival at Bhubaneswar from 2nd to 9th December. The venue will be the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, which is in-built with all infrastructures for a grand chess tournament.

The tournament offers 60 lacs rupees as prize money for the three categories – 30 lacs for the A category and 15 lacs each to B and C categories. The A category has three lacs rupees as the first prize and eighty main prizes, in addition to several category prizes. IM Sekhar Sahu is the tournament director and he may be contacted on Whatsapp through +917048413788 and sekhar_im@yahoo.co.in.

GM Giga Quparadze and Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia, GM Cristhian Camilo Rios Gomez from Columbia, GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez from Paraguay, GM Jacek Stopa of Poland, GM Manik MIkulas of Slovakia, GM Alexei Fedorov, GM Evgeniy Podolchenko, GM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam are some top grandmasters in the tournament.

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The founder of KIIT and KISS Prof. Achyuta Samanta, a member of the parliament, is a great sports lover and chess in particular. The participation of fifteen athletes from the university in the recent Paris Olympics is a testimony to his passion for sports. The previous fourteen editions of the GM tournament have fetched name and fame to him and the university.

Odisha Open, Bhubaneswar (15th International Grandmaster Chess Festival) - 15th to 22nd December 2024

The Odisha Open, also known as the 15th International Grandmaster Chess Festival 2024-25 is organized by the All Odisha Chess Association, in association with SOA University, Bhubaneswar from 15th to 22nd December. The total prize money is 40 lacs rupees, with prize fund of 25 lacs to A category and 7.5 lacs each to B and C categories.

The prize money is a big fish to top players – 5.5 lacs rupees as the first prize and 40 main prizes are at stake, in addition to category prizes. Er. Debabratta Bhatta, the General Secretary of AOCA is the Tournament Director. The international university also has several big halls to accommodate both categories of the tournament simultaneously. Contact: odishachess@gmail.com, +919437093970 and +919040562526.

GMs and IMs from Paraguay, Columbia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Indonesia, Slovakia, Botswana, Turkmenistan, France and Egypt have confirmed their entries.

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Athens of the East 4th International GM Tournament, Madurai - 24th to 31st December 2024

Madurai has become a prominent chess hub, because in the recent past, Athens of the East GM tournament has earned a big name due to the innovative way it is being organized. The tournament is scheduled from 24th to 31st December. Apart from providing 44 lacs as the prize money for the three categories, the unbelievable bumper offer is the prize of two cars, six bikes and one hundred bicycles, mainly to motivate and attract the young children and higher prize money mongers in the B (Below 2000 rating) and C (Below 1800) categories. If one goes by record, this may be the first tournament in India as well as the whole world to offer such kind of mind boggling prizes in a GM tournament festival. The venue for the A category is Amika Hotel, close to Madurai airport and the other two categories are to be held at Vallabha Vidyalaya CBSE School, Alagar Koil Road, Madurai.

The A category provides 20 lacs as the prize money, with three lacs as the first prize. Apart from the several regular and category prizes, even the best Madurai district player will receive one lac rupees as the first prize.

The B and C categories have 12 lacs each as the prize money and here is where, the organizer Ananthi Chess Academy outwits other organisers – the winner of the both B and C tournaments will drive home a brand new Maruti car each. Besides, even an unrated player has the chance to ride away with a bike as the prize, as six bikes are presented to three category prize winners in both sections. Even a fifth ranked boy and girl in under 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 categories is guaranteed with a bicycle.

The offers do not end here. All players are provided free accommodation and moreover, all the players will be provided free lunch. Free pick up and drop by bus is also arranged to the venue from the Madurai main bus stand. What else a player can expect to participate in the tournament? The last date of entry for the GM tournament and the B category is 20th December and 24th for the C. Hurry up to avoid last minute rejection.

The tournament has so far attracted several grandmasters and international masters from twenty three countries. To mention a few: GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez (PAR), GM Cristhian Camilo Rios Gomez (COL), GM Alexei Fedorov, IM Asylbek Abdyzhapar (KGZ), IM Alexander Slizhevsky, GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE), GM Evgeniy Podolchenko, GM Manik Mikulas (SVK), GM Tair Vahidov (UZB), GM Attila Czebe (HUN), IM David Gochelashvili, IM Semetei Tegin Tologon (KGZ) and Indian Grandmasters - Shyam Sundar M, P Shyaam Nikhil, Deepan Chakkravarthy, Venkatesh M R, Laxman R R, Neelotpal Das, P Karthikeyan, IM Aronyak Ghosh and many others.

Entry fees can be paid at www.ananthichessacademy.com and www.bookmychess.com and the entry fee is ₹10000 for A and ₹6000 each for B and C.

The tournament director is P Pragadesh, Joint Secretary of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. His bold approach to chess by dedicating his full time to the game has paid rich dividends. Being a decently rated player, he has travelled abroad not only to play tournaments, but also to understand the chess scenario there and to get into contact with foreign grandmasters to bring them to our country for the tournaments.

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15th Chennai Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament - 2nd to 9th January 2025

The traditional 15th Chennai Open International Chess Tournament 2024 for Sakthi Group Dr. N Mahalingam trophy will be organized at Hotel Ramada Egmore, Chennai from 2nd to 9th January 2025. It offers 40 lacs as the total prize money, 20 lacs for the A category and ten each for the other two (Below 2000 and 1800). A total of 40 main prizes, with a first prize of four lacs rupees and many category prizes are to be awarded in the A category.

The last date for the entry is 27th December for A, 28th for B and 2nd January for C categories. Entries are payable at www.signinchess.com,  www.easypaychess.com, www.chessentry.in and www.chessfee.com. The entry fee is ₹10000 for A category and ₹5000 each for B and C. Almost all prominent players who have confirmed their entries for the Madurai tournament are also playing at Chennai.

Since the inception of the tournament, the prize money is sponsored Dr. M Manickam, President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. He also has been instrumental in organizing thirty IM-norm tournaments so far in Tamil Nadu recently, he himself sponsoring about twelve tournaments.

Stephen Balasamy P, General Secretary of TNSCA, is the Tournament Director. The Tournament Coordinator is IA and FI Paul Arokia Raj – +919840458484 and chesspaul64@mail.com.

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Late Shri Manohar Parikkar Goa International Open GM Tournament - 11th to 19th January 2025

You may enjoy the enchanting beauty of Goa by participating in the Late Shri Manohar Parikkar Goa International Open GM Tournament 2025. It will be organized by Goa Chess Association at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor stadium, Goa University from 11th to 19th January 2025. Like other tournaments, it also has three categories – A offering 25 lacs rupees as the prize money, B (Below 2000) – 15 lacs and C (Below 1700) – 13 lacs.

The first prize for A category is 4.5 lacs rupees, 1.75 lacs for B and 1.35 for C. A total of 50 main prizes and several category prizes are awarded in all the three sections.

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The secretary of Goa Chess Association Ashesh Keni is the tournament director (goagm3@gmail.com). The contact number for general enquiry is +919822157208 and +919422386547. Top players from 22 countries have registered so far and the state’s own pride GM Anurag Mhamal is currently second seeded.

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Visit our calendar to find details of all five GM tournaments along with their Category B and C tournaments.

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships.

The article was edited by Shahid Ahmed