As many as 106 participants from nine districts will compete in an online blitz chess tournament to mark International Olympic Day on Tuesday.

The event is being organised by All Jharkhand Chess Association (AJCA) in association with Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA). The event will be inaugurated virtually through Zoom.com at 5 pm in the presence of AJCA president Pradip Varma, executive president Richa Sanchita and JOA secretary Madhukant Pathak.

“We aim to uphold the spirit of the Olympics and celebrate the same by bringing together chess enthusiasts in its first ever venture to promote chess online,” said AJCA secretary N.K. Mishra.

He added that the event is restricted to registered players of the state with no entry fees.

East Singhbhum’s Vatsal Singhania, reigning gold medallist in Asian Youth Under-18 Championship and an IM norm holder, is the top seed while district mate Abhishek Das, an IM-elect, will also be part of the tournament.

The competition will commence on the portal www.chess.com from 6 pm. FIDE (The Federation Internationale des Echecs) arbiter Vishal Kumar Minz is the technical incharge and chief arbiter.

The tournament will be conducted according to FIDE Swiss 9 rounds rule with a timeframe of 3 minutes+2 seconds increment each from the first move. The total prize money for the event is Rs 5,001 which will be divided amongst 29 winners who are spread across different age groups under-19, 15, 13, 11 boys and girls.