A recap of the 2015 Commonwealth Chess Championships

Abhijeet Gupta

The Commonwealth Chess Championships 2015 was held in New Delhi in the Park Plaza Hotel between 22-30th June 2015.

The tournament saw the participation of players from various commonwealth nations. The tournament was dominated by Indian players. However there was a large contingent of players from the Republic of South Africa.

Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta took home thw winners prize. He scored an unbelievable 8/9 and drew the last two games quickly without wasting any time. Young guns Murali Kartikeyan and Aravindh Chitambharam didn’t dissapoint and played outstandingly to finish in the top ten. Padmini Rout was on a roll as she won the women’s championship.

Besides the open category, there were separate age category events too from U-8 to U-16 open and girls separately.

The tournament was organised by the Delhi State Chess Association and due credit should be given to its co-ordinaters for organising such a high-scale event in India. Indian players need these kinds of tournaments to increase their rating and reach the pinnacle of chess faster.

It’s an honour to be representing your nation in such an event and playing against opponents from different countries. Hope many more such events are organised in the country in the coming future.