The 3rd India-China Chess Summit 2018 was inaugurated at the International Chess Hall, KIIT University here today. The bilateral men’s series, involving four Grand Masters from each of the two countries, is being jointly organised by All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA) and KIIT University, under the aegis of All India Chess Federation.

Department of Sports & Youth Services, Government of Odisha is the main sponsors of the event, which carries a total prize fund of Rs. 10 Lakhs. Odisha Sports Journalists Association secretary Sanatan Pani, KIIT & KISS Sports Director Dr Gaganendu Dash, organising committee chairman Ranjan Mohanty, AOCA president IM Sekhar Chandra Sahu and secretary Krushna Kumar Sarma were present at the opening ceremony. Earlier, KIIT & KISS founder Prof Achyuta Samanta welcomed all the players and extended good wishes for the tournament.

The Summit will be played under Scheveningen System. Each member of one team will play against same member of the other team in two successive rounds. Two members of a team will play with white pieces in each round. Rate of play will be 90 minutes for the 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for all remaining moves with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. First round will commence tomorrow at 3:30 pm.

TEAMS:
India: GM Murali Karthikeyan, GM Narayanan Srinath, GM Chitthambaram Aravindh, GM Aryan Chopra. Coach: IM Sekhar Chandra Sahu.
China: GM Lu Shanglei, GM Xu Xiangyu, GM Bai Jinshi, GM Xu Yinglun. Coach: Xu Jun.
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PHOTO: Players India and China with guests at the opening ceremony in Bhubaneswar on Oct 16, 2018.