There are now 120 players registered with the Fiji Chess Federation.

More than half of these players are primary and secondary school students.

This was revealed by Fiji Chess secretary Goru Arvind after the federation’s Annual General Meeting on the weekend.

The Federation is reaching out to more school children under a Chess-In-Schools initiative.

Arvind says that reigning national champion, Manoj Kumar also officially received the first FIDE School Instructor title from the World Chess Federation in 2023, which is a significant boost for the nation as he is considered to be one of the best chess coaches in Fiji.

Meanwhile, Candidate Master Taione Sikivou was re-elected as President of Fiji Chess for another year.

Sikivou was unanimously re-elected at the AGM.

Fiji Chess has set April 27 as tentative date for its next tournament.

An official announcement will be made soon and when and where the competition will be held.