A five-day 22nd National Chess Championship of the Deaf organised under the joint aegis of Mysuru District Deaf Association (MDDA), Karnataka Sports Federation of the Deaf (KSFD), Bengaluru, All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD), New Delhi and Lions Club of Mysore Nisarga and Mayuri commenced at Rahul Convention Hall in Vishveshwaranagar here yesterday.

It was inaugurated by Ln. Nagaraj V. Bairy, District Governor, Lions Club International District 317-A.

Over 200 players from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Telangana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are participating in the event.

Speaking on the occasion, MDDA Vice-Chairman J.V. Mahesh Verma expressed happiness in organising the National Championship for the first time in Mysuru in association with other organisations.

Prominent Chess Players S. Aadish of Mysuru and K. Yashaswi of Mangaluru were felicitated on the occasion.

KSFD General Secretary V. Kumar, AISCD General Secretary G. Suresh Kumar, Rahul Convention Hall Proprietor S. Murthy, Lions Club President N. Nanjunadaswamy, members Subbanna, Dilip Kumar, Dr. Chandrashekar, Karnataka Chess Association Vice-President Nagendra Muralidhar and others were present.

After the first round, 100 players have won their first round matches and secured a solitary point each. B. Yaswanth (Telangana), G.Palani (Karnataka), K.M.Shashidara (Karnataka), S.Aadish (Karnataka) and Ashutosh Shukla (UP) are placed from one to five in the ranking after round one. The tournament is being played on a Swiss league basis of 9 rounds.