A Kolkata-based educational institution is organising an inter-alumni chess tournament with the purpose of popularising the sport because it feels chess can be a powerful tool to deal with two problems brought upon by lockdowns: isolation and mental health issues.
Chaturanga, a two-day tournament to be held this weekend, is being organised by the Nava Nalanda Alumni Association (NNAA) along with Nava Nalanda Group of Schools and will be held at Nalanda Bhavan in south Kolkata. It will be conducted under the guidance of Sara Bangla Daba Sangstha — loosely translated, All Bengal Chess Association. Alumni of any school or college can participate, only that for an institution to be represented, at least three of its former students must register, or else a candidate can join in individual capacity.
“We will have prizes in both categories, individual as well as alumni. So far, we’ve received 117 entries. We are screening the forms for duplication and talking to each participant to ensure there are no dropouts. We would like to have at least 100 participants for the event,” Dyuti Kanta Lahiri Chowdhury of NNAA told The Hindu.
