Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 3: Fourteen chess enthusiasts maintained supremacy after fourth round of the ongoing South Asian Amateur Chess Championship, being organized by All J&K Chess Association and sponsored by J&K State Sports Council, here today.
The chess enthusiasts–Sonkalan Bharti of West Bengal, Jeet Jain of Gujarat, Vishwanath Prasad and Raghav Srivasthav V of Telengana, Shubham Lakudkar, Rathi Dhanshree and Kadav Omkar of Maharashtra, Neelabh Jyoti Borthakur of Assam, Mohammad Fasal VU , Suresh PK and Anjana Krishna S of Kerala, Rupesh Ranjan and Harsh Himanshu of Bihar and Souradip Deb of Tripura were leading at 4 points each after four rounds in the Championship, being played at Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust, Channi Himmat, here.
Among foreign players from Nepal and Bangladesh no one could manage lead. J&K player Soham Kamotra is closely following the leaders at 3.5 points.
Fourteen professional Arbiters are working for smooth conduct of this event, while Srivatsan R has been appointed by Asian Chess Federation as Chief Arbiter.
Around 430 players and 200 coaches, managers and officials from 28 States of India are participating in the Championship. Players from Nepal and Bangladesh are also participating in this event. Around 45 J&K State players are also participating in the Competition.
According to Atul Kumar Gupta, President, All J&K Chess Association cash prizes worth Rs 10 lakh will be distributed among the winners’ alongwith trophies and medals.
Earlier, the fourth round was inaugurated by AR Wani, Senior Vice President, AJKCA in presence of Atul Kumar Gupta, President, AJKCA and Joint Secretary, All India Chess Federation, Ashiq Ahmad Kolu, General Secretary AJKCA, Baldev Raj and Taranvir Singh Gujral, Vice President’s, Dr A S Bhatia, Advisor AJKCA, Khalid Amin, Treasurer, Kuljeet Jamwal, Press Secretary, Vikas Nanda, Co-ordinator, Raj Kumar and Rakesh Gupta.
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