ORGANISED BY: Khordha District Chess Association, under the aegis of All Odisha Chess Association.
CONTACT PERSONS: KDCA secretary Subhasis Patnaik (Mobile: 098613-91258), AOCA secretary Vivek Kumar Tibarewal (Mobile: 094399-53866).

DESCRIPTION:
*     The festival features two tournaments, one for players above 2000 Elo rating and the other one for below 2000 rating.
*     Ardound 250 players from different states and institutions are expected to compete in the twin tournament, which offers total prize fund of Rs 5 lakhs.
*     The above-2000 rating tournament, carrying total cash prize of Rs 2 lakhs will take place from August 18 to 22.
*     Several Grandmasters and International Maters are expected to participate in this category and the number of rounds will be between seven to nine rounds.
*     GM elect Swapnil S Dhopade (Maharashtra) has confirmed his entry.
*     GM Sriram Jha (LIC), GM-elect MS Thejkumar (Railways); IMs Subhrajit Saha, Rahul Sangma, Anup Deshmukh and Sayantan Das are expected to confirm their participation soon.
*     Title winner of the higher category tournament will take home Rs 50,000, while the runner-up will be richer by Rs 30,000.
*     The 10-round lower category tournament, carrying total cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs, will be held from August 19 to 22.
*     The champion and runner-up will take home Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively.
*     Free accommodation will be provided to all outstation players.
*     Entry fee varies from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. But entry fee for local players has been set as Rs 200.
*     GMs, IMs and WGMs have been exempted from paying entry fee.
*     Late Keshabananda Das was one of the founders of Odisha State Chess Association.
*     He played instrumental role in Odisha hosting National B championship here in 1974 and the National A at Rourkela next year.
*     He was the first person to author a book on chess in Odia language and the first to rope in a foreigner (Yuri Averbakh of USSR) to impart coaching in Odisha.