The historic torch relay for 44th Chess Olympiad reached Imphal on Sunday with MLA S Premchandra receiving the torch from grandmaster Saptarshi Roy who reached Imphal with the torch at an event held at Kangla Fort in Imphal West.
The MLA again handed over the torch to the grandmaster who will proceed further to Nagaland. A reception hosted by the Manipur Chess Development Association was held inside the Kangla fort.
The event was marked by a chess game played between grandmaster Saptarshi Roy and young chess players of the state including students of various schools.
Playing with the grand master will be a boost to the young budding chess players of the state, said MLA S Premchandra in his speech as chief guest of the reception function.
“Playing with the grand master will surely give a new taste of the game to the young budding players of the state,” he said. Despite its small size, Manipur has been actively participating in almost every discipline of sports and brings laurels to the nation in most of the events, he mentioned.
Being India’s sports powerhouse full of talented sportspersons, there is no dearth of chess players in the state and state players are not lacking behind in any sports discipline, he said.
In chess too, state’s players will one day shine and bring laurels for the state in the national arena as well for the country in the international arena, the MLA said.
He also extended his heartfelt thanks to the parents and guardians of the young budding players who attended the event. Their participation will surely encourage the players and help in reaching the national and international arenas, he added.
President of the Manipur Chess Development Association Soibam Mangijao, in his presidential speech of the function, mentioned that Manipur is the 32nd state of the country which the torch rally reached.
From Manipur, the torch rally will proceed to Nagaland for its onward rally to other states of the country, he further said, adding, the torch rally will cover 75 iconic places of the country
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the historic torch relay for the 44th Chess Olympiad on June 19 at Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi.
FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich handed over the torch to the Prime Minister, who in turn handed it over to grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand. This torch will be taken to 75 cities in a span of 40 days before the final culmination at Mahabalipuram near Chennai. (PIB)
