International Master Bitan Banerjee of Bengal emerged champion (on basis of tie-break) at the online blitz chess tournament organised by the All Jharkhand Chess Association on May 15.
Banerjee scored 7 points in 9 rounds to win the top slot. IM Hemant Sharma, IM Anuj Shivratri, GM R.R. Laxman, IM Neelesh Saha and IM Aronayak Ghosh were the top 6 finishers who also settled with 7 points.
The event attracted 85 players consisting 6 GMs, 18 IMs and 2 women International Masters from across the country. The event was conducted on the online platform of Lichess.
The tournament was the first one organised by the AJCA in association with XONG, a brand of RouteToMarket Media India Pvt Ltd.
“First of all, thanks to the organisers of the tournament. It was a very strong tournament with lots of GMs and IMs taking part. I thoroughly enjoyed the competition. Although, we are missing the experience of over the board games, these events are a boon to us, it is helping us to stay in touch with the game as well as popularising chess, using the live streaming on XONG’s social media handles.”, said Banerjee.
XONG is a South Asian grassroot community-based eSports tournament organiser. It has conducted various eSports tournaments in South Asian countries, including India and Bangladesh.
AJCA secretary IM Neeraj Kumar Mishra said the event was a success and they were happy for the participation of some top players. "The tournament gave an opportunity to participants to get in touch with the game in Covid times," he added.
