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CHESS..
CHESS.. CHESS..
-
as reported in the Auroville News -
- They lived up to their expectations, a
grand final, with Vladimir (Ukraine) and Manickam (Sanjeev Nagar, T.N.)
and Vijaykumar (Kuilapalayam T.N.). The Indians and the Russians again!
- Vladimir came through tough rounds to finish as a winner of the
tournament - sending everyone away! And Manickam outlived Vijaykumar!
- "It was great to play with so many friends and make more, - some
had very nice characters...pah!", Vladimir said.
- "Thank you very much, it was a good
match!" said Manickam with his friendly smile.
- The finalists received gifts from the graciously generous Radiance
(after a last minute touch-up...): a candle with a beautiful stand, a
lampshade and a ceramic chess display on a wooden stand for the winner!
- A standing ovation to the participants and interested in chess!!
The Auroville Chess
Tournament (ACT), September '01
- as
reported to the web by organisers Martanda, Vikas and Muniandi
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During the hot month of August, having had lunch at the Solar Kitchen,
Aurovilians Martanda, Vikas and Muniandi would go up to the Coffee Shop on
the first floor of the building for some refreshments. They felt that the
atmosphere there could be livened up, and this was the birth of the idea
to host a chess tournament at that very place. After some initial doubts,
they decided to organise such a tournament and publicised it in the
Auroville News. The result was better than expected:
they needed 52 players and more than 80 showed an interest to participate
in the tournament...
Equipment and timing
Seven chess boards were purchased in Pondy and three were loaned for the
event, and a broad spectrum of players finally confronted each other in a
spirit of good sportsmanship in the beginning of September this year.
Participants were Aurovilians and newcomers along with three players from
each of the
villages surrounding Auroville. The games took place between 5 and 8 pm
every day; it was up to the players to settle on the time. If a player did
not show up there was a replacement readily available as many people
showed up to observe and socialise.
First of a series
The Coffee Shop graciously offered a 10% discount to all players
participating in the tournament. The organisers appreciated this gesture
on their behalf and want such actions to be more common in the community.
The chess matches acted as a catalyst for people who did not know each
other prior to the games, to get to know each other. The organisers saw
this as a very positive aspect of the tournament and decided that in the
future they would organise such tournaments annually to bring people
together.
This initial event was seen as a tool to gauge the different levels of all
the players who participated. The information thus gathered will be used
for future matches so as to save time and make it more fun for everybody.
The organisers see this tournament as just the First Act.
It was a success by any standards and everybody enjoyed it.
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