[Source: Fiji Chess Federation]

Thirty five chess players are battling it out in the Vodafone National Fiji Chess Championship that started yesterday at FASANOC.

All the participants are from the central division, with chess players from the west and other parts of the country missing out due to other commitments.

Fiji Chess Federation Vice-President and defending champion Taione Sikivou says although the competition falls within the busiest part of the season, they are still grateful for the turnout and support.

“We are glad to see a good turnout and the majority of the participants are young kids so that boats well for our future. There’s a lot of thing going on, as you know, but we are happy that we got the turnout that we did and we are hoping to increase the participation in our next tournament.”

Sikivou says the interest from their younger audience increases in every tournament and it is a factor that will grow in the near future.

This is the first on the board tournament since the pandemic in 2021 as chess was forced to move competitions online.