Bihar Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament begins in Patna
By A Correspondent
Patna: The Bihar Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament commenced today at the Pataliputra Sports Complex in Kankarbagh, Patna. The event is being jointly organised by the Bihar State Sports Authority, the Sports Department of the Government of Bihar, and the All Bihar Chess Association.
The tournament, which began at 10 a.m., has attracted a total of 617 players from four countries and 18 Indian states. The field includes one Grandmaster, one International Master, and three FIDE Masters.
In the second round, top seed Russian Grandmaster Peter Kiriakov defeated West Bengal’s Riyana Khatun in 42 moves using the French Defence on the top board. On the second board, Bihar’s promising player Reyan Mohammad continued his winning run, defeating local player Kartikeya Nandan in just 25 moves with the white pieces, employing the Zukertort Opening. On the third board, West Bengal’s Alekhya Mukhopadhyay secured a convincing victory over Vaibhav Mishra in only 21 moves in an English Opening game.
The tournament was formally inaugurated by Indian Grandmaster Narayanan Srinath, who also captained India’s gold medal-winning team at the Chess Olympiad. The inauguration featured a ceremonial game between Srinath and Russian Grandmaster Peter Kiriakov.
Addressing the gathering, Deputy Director of the Bihar State Sports Authority, Himanshu Singh, welcomed the guests, while All Bihar Chess Association Secretary Dharmendra Kumar delivered the vote of thanks. In his address, Srinath praised the Bihar Government’s efforts in promoting sports, stating that joint initiatives by the government and the authority are helping nurture sporting talent in the state. He noted that Bihar has secured medals at national and international competitions in recent years.
Speaking about the state’s prospects in chess, Srinath highlighted emerging talents such as Reyan Mohammad, Mariyam Fatima and Devansh Kesari, adding that a strong generation of young players is ready to excel with proper guidance. He also mentioned holding discussions with Director General and CEO Raveendran Sankaran regarding the establishment of modern chess training facilities in Bihar, which may commence soon.
Prominent attendees at the inauguration ceremony included All Bihar Chess Association President Diljeet Khanna, Athletics Association Secretary Liaqat Ali, and Sikkim Chess Association Secretary Mahendra Dhakal, among others.
At the end of the first day, following the completion of two rounds, all seeded players had won their respective matches.
Top Board Results After Round Two:
- Peter Kiriakov (2) beat Riyana Khatun (1)
- Reyan Mohammad (2) beat Kartikeya Nandan (1)
- Alekhya Mukhopadhyay (2) beat Vaibhav Kumar Mishra (1)
- Indrajeet Manindrakar (2) beat Veer Vikram (1)
- Abhrojyoti Nath (2) beat Bharat Kumar Pandey (1)
- Rupesh Jaiswal (2) beat Anika Yadav (1)
- Prakhar Tripathi (2) beat Sanjay Das (1)
- Kumar Gaurav (2) beat Raima Bhattacharjee (1)
- Sudhanshu Ranjan (2) beat Dhruv Kumar Gupta (1)
- Parambrata Sarkar (2) beat Mahasveen Sinha (1)
- Suman Kumar Singh (2) beat Aarav Saharan (1)
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