The two-day New Town Chess Tournament, organised by the New Town Youth Club, concluded after seven rounds of nail-biting moves and countermoves.
A total of 82 players, mostly residents of New Town, faced each other in a Swiss format. Braving intermittent heavy showers, they played on in the space under the Axis Mall flyover which has recently been rejuvenated and dedicated to the public as a community zone.
Though the space has several chess boards as table tops, the organisers had cordoned off an area behind the stage space where numerous tables had been set up with timer watches and chess boards.
And on Sunday afternoon, till the last game of the seventh round was on, there was no knowing who the winner would be. Rangeet Majumdar and Snehil Raj Singh were caught in a decisive battle. “If Snehil wins this game, he will win the tournament,” said an organiser. A small crowd gathered around the table as both started making quickfire moves, coming under time pressure. Finally, as they agreed to a draw and shook hands, the tournament had a winner — not one of them, but Subhayan Kundu of neighbouring DC Block. Snehil and Rangeet had to settle for first and second runner-up spots respectively.
“Other than prizes for the top five players, we are also recognising the best under-12, the best female and the best senior citizen players,” said tournament convenor Soumyadip Maity. “We want to introduce the culture of chess being played here regularly just as it happens under the Gariahat flyover,” he added.
International Master Arghyadip Das, a New Town CC Block resident, played a crucial role in getting the affiliations in place for the tournament, held under the aegis of Sara Bangla Daba Sangstha. “With the Chess Olympiad happening for the first time in India, this is the perfect time to hype chess as a sport. Now we need more rating tournaments and even perhaps a Grandmaster tournament in Bengal so that aspiring players can see great players in action,” said Das. Grandmaster Deep Sengupta and vice-president of Sara Bangla Daba Sangstha Debasish Barua had attended the inauguration.
“A couple of chess tournaments have been held in New Town. Our solid tables of concrete in this community zone have chess table tops. In Russia, people play chess in the streets and in parks. We hope a culture evolves whereby in between shopping, or while family members go for shopping, people settle down here for a game of chess in this space between Axis and Central malls. This will boost community building,” said NKDA chairman Debashis Sen who gave away the chess contest prizes.
Winner Subhayan Kundu, a professional chess player, was happy to compete in a tournament in his backyard. “Given the level of competition, it would have been my fault if I could not win,” said the 21-year-old, who won six of his matches and drew one.
GM in action
A simultaneous chess exhibition match will take place at the same venue under the flyover on August 21 in the afternoon when Grand Master Dibyendu Barua, who stays in FD Block in Salt Lake, will play simultaneously against 12 players from three age groups. This will be organised by the NKDA under the banner of the Newtown Business Club.