Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata celebrate 75th Independence Day in ChessBase India t-shirts
Chess is more than just a sport. It is not only about ratings, titles, championships, medals and statistics, it's much more than that. This past Sunday, on the occasion of India's 75th Independence Day, Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata organized a chess tournament which was participated by the hospital's doctor, nurse, pathologist, administrative departments, maintenance, security staff and more. It was the brainchild of Dr. Hrishikesh Kumar, Head of Neurology and Vice-Chairman of the hospital. Being a keen chess lover, he decided to celebrate the special day by organizing a chess tournament and invited to stalwarts of the country GM Dibyendu Barua and GM Sandipan Chanda. All participants and officials wore the ChessBase India t-shirts of different variants and colors! Photo: Ravi Shanker Tulsan
Chess for all - Doctor, Nurse, Pathologist and more play chess
Last Sunday, on the occasion of 75th Independence Day, Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata (I-NK) in association with Mind Game Chess Academy organized a rapid chess tournament, I-NK Chess League - ICL 2021 among their employees including doctors, nurses, pathologist, people from administrative departments, maintenance staffs, security personnel and so on. It was a brain child of Dr. Hrishikesh Kumar, the Head of Neurology and Vice Chairman of the hospital, to organize such an event at I-NK. He was ably supported by his research fellows, Koustav, Dr. Supriyo, Banashree and Akash.
Dr. Kumar said, "The tournament was planned to break the monotony and fear generated during the COVID-19 pandemic in the last one and a half years."
There were a total of 60 participants. Teams were named after some doyens in the history of the game of chess - Vishy Anand, Bobby Fischer, Sultan Khan, Nigel Short, Kasparov and more. Some teams were also named after the stars from Kolkata - Team Dibyendu, Team Sandipan and Team Bipin Shenoy. Mr. Jayanta Sarkar and his team of Mind Game Chess Academy were instrumental in providing logistics and looking after the technical part of the tournament.
The tournament officially started with an opening move made by GM Dibyendu Barua. During the inaugural speech Mr. Barua said "No need to be overtly worried about the running of the chess clock; rather you should think before you touch a piece. 10 minutes is not a long time, but it is enough."
GM Sandipan Chanda was also there at the event. He was very sporting to accept the request to play an exhibition match with participants. During the prize distribution ceremony, Mr. Chanda mentioned the value of hard work to win matches, even against strong opponents. He also suggested that real play with someone slightly superior to you is more important than just reading strategies in a chess book.
Participants of Team Sultan Khan won the winner's trophy - the entire team consisted of nurses of critical care ward who worked tirelessly to save countless number of patients during COVID period. Mr. Jinto TS was awarded the 'Knight of ICL 2021' for winning the highest number of matches, Mr Nomit Das was awarded “Rook of ICL 2021” for winning the second-highest number of matches and Dr. Mukul Bhattacharya was awarded “Bishop of ICL 2021” for winning third-highest number of matches in the tournament.
A well-known chess player and mentor to many chess talents of the region, Mr. Bipin Shenoy was present to encourage the participants. Incidentally, Mr. Shenoy used to coach GM Sandipan Chanda during his early days. He said that organization was impeccable, and he was pleasantly surprised to see the quantum of participation and enthusiasm.
Not only chess but the organizing team was very particular about bringing fun activities. There was live music performance by Snehashree (piano) and Archita (violin) during the intermissions.
A chess boxing set was created to have a photoshoot zone - it was hit among participants and all others present.
Delicious food were served during lunchtime and break. Paani-poori stall, home-made food counter and lucky draw were other attractions.
Dr. Kumar said, "Chess is a mind game and I-NK is a neuroscience hospital. In that way, chess is very close to us". He felt that it could be a great idea to bring chess into neurorehabilitation as chess has potential to uplift cognitive functions.
ICL 2021 was a memorable event. It brought forth a harmony and bonhomie among employees of I-NK. 15th August was chosen as the date of event - this was another way to celebrate Indian Independence Day. It was decided by the organizers to make it an annual event. The event closed with Indian National anthem recited by all the participants.
Thanks to Koustav Chatterjee for sharing the info and photographs of this event. The different variants of ChessBase India t-shirts which were worn by the participants and officials can be ordered below