VIBGYOR High, Haralur road, hosted a Rapid Chess tournament for the first time, to provide a platform for students to improve on logical thinking, analytical reasoning and problem solving. Students in the age group of 6 to 16 years participated in this mega event held on 28 October, 2017 in the school from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm.
It all started when Master Prithvi Rajan an enthusiastic, international chess player of our tenth grade had a dazzling idea of conducting a tournament for the school children. He has participated in numerous national and international chess tournaments and wanted to provide a similar platform for the students of his school. Since he has been playing chess from a very young age, he knew the game and was confident of organising such a tournament. Under his initiative and the support of the school staff, a team was built, duties assigned and preparations were in full swing. Brochure, registration forms were created by Prithvi himself and uploaded on various chess-related websites.
As the day of the tournament approached, the registrations went up significantly! There was an overwhelming response of 350 entries out of which 308 participants with valid documents were shortlisted. There were groups of participants from various schools, individual entries as well as outstation participation from the cities of Chennai, Mandya and Mysore.
The day began with the enthusiastic outstation participants arriving as early as 6.30 am. Registrations started at 8:00 am and by 9.15 am all participants were in the big hall for the players meet. After a brief talk about the rules and regulations by the Chief Arbiter, the first round of the tournament commenced.
It was heart-warming to see the age group of 6 to 8 years children (95 participants) playing their moves like stalwarts with rapt concentration and collected demeanour. There were seven rounds in all lasting up to 6.30 pm. It was a wonder to see the children finishing all the rounds calmly and the accompanying parents waiting patiently.
Prize distribution started at 7.00 pm and there was huge applause for the participants winning the cash prizes. The youngest participant and most-promising player were also felicitated. A surprise award was given to Prithvi in recognition of his initiative and efforts to conduct the meticulously planned event. A special mention must go out to his parents who were equally and tirelessly involved the entire day.
All in all, it was a great experience for the team and students got a good opportunity to display their skills. It has assured us that chess is a game wherein children learn to be responsible for their actions.