SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 26: Ranchi’s Aditi Raj bagged the first position in the women section of the 13th KIIT International Chess Festival 2022 which concluded at Bhubaneswar (Odisha) on Wednesday evening.
In the seven-round tournament, Aditi got 6 points with five wins and two draws. She got a cash prize of Rs 4000. Sonbana Sonali Jaina of Odisha got 2nd position in the women’s section.
In the below-1200 Elo rating category, Sourodipta Sarkar of Jamshedpur got the second position with six points and was awarded cash prize of Rs 5,000.
International Arbiter Jayant Bhuyan of Jharkhand, who is officiating in the championship, said that both the players of the state missed the medal by half point. Medal winners have 6.5 points.
Three events are being held at 13th KIIT International Chess Festival. In category ‘A’, grandmaster (GM) and International Master (IM) rank players are participating. In category ‘B’, players with an Elo rating below 1600 were participating and in category ‘C’ players with an Elo rating below 1200 participated.
Today, category ‘A’ event of the festival (below 1900 Elo rating players) started in which total of 180 players of the international and national including Neeraj Mishra and Jayant Bhuyan from Jharkhand are taking part.
This was the first time that Aditi Raj, the under-14 champion of the state, had participated in the KIIT International Chess Festival.
With this out outstanding performance at International Chess Festival, Aditi Raj earned an 82 Elo rating. Presently, she has a 1251 Elo rating and now it would be a 1333 rating.
“ I am happy with her performance. She could have performed better but due to Covid and in lack of proper guidance, she did not display her potential. However, her game is progressing day by day and I wish she would brighten up the name of Jharkhand on national and international platforms,” said Jyoti Verma, mother of Aditi Raj.
Class IX student of Delhi Public School (DPS) Ranchi, Aditi Raj has been participating in national tournaments for the last 25 days continuously.
“She could do better if she gets tournament exposure in Jharkhand. Players of her age group in other states get a number of tournaments in comparison to Jharkhand. She also lacks quality guidance to prop up,” said Jyoti Verma as Aditi has to go to Jamshedpur for coaching.
