Online Chess Tournament Raises Rs. 15 Lakh for Coronavirus Relief Fund

The '#CheckmateCovid' initiative sa𒁏w nearly 20,000 play the May 2-3 chess tournament which awarded Rs. 10 Lakh in prizes, and Rs. 15 Lakh to the Karnataka Chief Minister's ൩COVID-19 Relief Fund.

A total of 19,245 players played the online tourꦅney, which was set up by the Karnataka government, with the support of the United Karnataka Chess Association and leading mobile gaming p🔯latform, Mobile Premier League (MPL).

The competition saw 2.37 Lakh chess games played, wi🐻th matches played in the Speed Chess format. Each participant got three minutes in the game, a𒁃nd winners were decided on contests won over the duration of the tournament.

GM Ankit Rajpara was ꦗthe champion. GM Bhakti Kulkarni took honours for the top-ranked female player, and Shakuntala Devi won the award for top player over 60 years of age.

"I thank all the players who particip🥀ated and contributed to the CheckmateCovid Chess Tournament. We are glad to have collected a large amount for the CM's Covid Relief Fund. We must continue to come together and fight this crisis," said Karnataka Sports Minister CT Ravi, quoted in a press release on .

Esports goliath MPL has a history of supporting chess. It's a popular sport on the firm's app and MPL have previously ran India's biggest chess tournament.