Manipal 09: Soundarya wins the Nat-B title; Stany takes the Open

Manipal 09: Soundarya wins the Nat-B title; Stany takes the Open

The All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB), in association with the Manipal University, hosted the National B Chess Championship for the Blind at T.M.A. Pai Hall in Manipal, a picturesque educational hub in Udupi, Karnataka.

The AICFB, traditionally, has never charged any entry fees and all the players competing in this prestigious event are playing on the basis of merit, by qualifying from their respective zonal tournaments.

The Manipal University organized this tournament along with an Open rating tournament, with a simple idea of building an audience for this sport, where the visually challenged player can truly play at a relatively higher level, compared to other games.

The most remarkable performance in this chess festival was by the organizers themselves. The University managed to pull off a near perfect chess tournament with the players enjoying a competitive environment amidst the traditional ambiance and hospitality of this seat of learning. 

Little steps like these, especially with many children in the audience, go a long way in influencing people's views of their differently abled friends. This, in turn, produces more aware and empathetic citizens.

Every player, in both the National-B and the Open tournaments, was allotted an individual room that was comfortable in all aspects, with well-furnished beddings, table to prepare, hot water and Aquaguard purified water.

The accommodation was about two kilometers away from the playing arena, and the university arranged a regular bus service to-and-fro the venue.

The organizers also provided breakfast and lunch to all the participants, which was of a very good quality. Tea and snacks were made available to the players and the guardians all throughout the day...

However, the most enlightening part was the prize fund for the tournament. We had mentioned earlier that the AICFB never collects entry fees from the players. The tournaments are usually conducted by the benevolence of the organizers like Manipal University. This usually means that the total prize fund for the National-B for the Blind is low -- this edition had a total fund of Rs. 70,000/-.

We dutifully did our research, the findings of which we will present in a separate article, where we will highlight the problems that exist in the Blind Chess scene in India and investigate how we can bring about a change.

The FIDE Open, nevertheless, carried an impressive prize fund of Rs. 3,00,000/-, with an array of prizes in the category sections. As is the trend these days, the prizes were top-heavy, with those finishing below top-five getting less glamorous prizes than a strong titled player would like to earn for five days of work. This may be the reason why, despite promising a fantastic tournament, the event failed to attract more than five International Masters. Three of them could not finish in the top-five even, a testimony to how underrated Indian players are!

That said, one cannot help but give credit to the University and the organizers for organizing a beautiful tournament with quality accommodation and boarding coupled with almost world-class playing conditions, and all this for a reasonable entry fee. Surely, one of the better-organized Opens of India in 2015.

The top fourteen players from this National-B booked their spots in the National-A for the Blind Championship, 2016.

The 1999-born youngster is currently studying in the tenth standard and comes from the town of Boden in Orissa. "Boden...," the young lad explains,"...as in Boden's mate". He revealed that his recent work with Fritz-13 software played a key role in helping him improve the standard of his play. "I use the JAWS software to access the Fritz that I have, from where I study and analyze the games. To read the positions, I just copy the PGN to Notepad and pick up the FEN of the position."

Are you curious to know how he 'looks' at the chessboard? "It is similar to the process through which a sighted player sees the board," Soundarya explains. "You study the position with your eyes and you have the image in your head on which you sit and work. We do the same thing as well, only here, we use our sense of touch to feel the position and feed it into our head."

Rankings after Round 09:

Check the complete rankings after Round 09 here.

Manipal University FIDE Open, 2015

The Open tournament that was held alongside the National B for the Blind attracted some 370 odd players from across the country. The excellent playing conditions, coupled with a friendly set of organizers, enabled the tournament to be held in a positive manner.

This picture is only the left part of the arena. There was ample room in the top few boards while the remaining boards were also organized well with just enough space. The seats were comfortable and the hall was well-lit and air conditioned.

Vasanth B.H., the Chief Arbiter for the tournament, had a tiring five days as he officiated the games with complete devotion,...

Rankings after Round 09:

Check the complete rankings after Round 09 here.

We sincerely hope you enjoyed our coverage of the tournament. Your feedback is always welcome. We will continue to endeavour and bring you quality content.

ChessBase India will bring you an interview with the AICFB chief Charudatta Jadhav, where we will investigate the problems that ail Blind chess in India and possible solutions for the same. We will also bring you a brief interview with the winner of the Open, IM G.A.Stany, with annotated games soon!