SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Dec 13: Three ace arbiters of Jharkhand Neeraj Mishra ( International Master) of Dhanbad, Vishal Minz of Jamshedpur and Shoukhin Kundu of Chakradharpur (West Singhbhum) have been selected to conduct different events of National Chess Championship.
As per the All India Chess Federation (AICF) circular, Neeraj Mishra has been selected to conduct the Senior Women’s Chess Championship scheduled to be held at Kolhapur (Maharashtra) from December 26 to January 5, 2023, while Vishal Minz and Shoukhin Kundu will conduct matches at National Under-9 Chess Championship to be held at Indore (Madhya Pradesh) from December 25 to January 2, 2023.
This national assignment keeps significance for International Master (IM) Neeraj, who is at present the FIDE Arbiter (FA), as he will get International Arbiter (IA) status after officiating at the Kolhapur Senior Women’s Championship.
Four norms (conducting Grand Masters tournaments) are needed for getting the status of International Arbiter and Neeraj Mishra has already achieved three norms. After conducting the Kolhapur championship, he would get the 4th norm.
Officials of the Chess Federation said that FIDE would make an official announcement of IA status to Neeraj Mishra in January-February 2023.
International Master Neeraj Mishra would be the 4th chess arbiter of Jharkhand to get this status. So far, three others including Jayant Bhuyan of Jamshedpur, Dipak Kumar of Ranchi and Aishwarya of Dhanbad have achieved this status. Neeraj Mishra is the general secretary of the Dhanbad District Chess Association as well as the All Jharkhand Chess Association.
FIDE Arbiter Vishal Minz has two norms. First, he achieved the first norm in Bikaner International Tournament and second after conducting the 44th Chess Olympiad held at Chennai in August.
FIDE National Arbiter Shoukhin Kundu of Chakradharpur would be the third woman chess arbiter of Jharkhand after Aishwarya and Priyanka of Jamshedpur to get the opportunity to conduct a national championship.
Apart from officiating the tournament, Kundu is at present imparting training to budding chess players at Tata Chess Academy, Jamshedpur under the guidance of the first International Arbiter of state Jayant Bhuyan. Notably, she was also a student of Tata Chess Academy. “She has the potential and dedication to go high in this field,” said Jayant Bhuyan.
