Chess marathon organised by GM Iniyan raises Rs 1.21 lakh for COVID-19 relief work

A total of Rs 1.21 lakh has been raised through a 72-hour-marathon online chess event organised by young Tamil Nadu Grandmaster P Iniyan to raise funds for relief work related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The money would go to the PM CARES Fund and the state chief minister's relief fund.

The fundraiser event, because of various time zones across the globe, began at 2.30 pm IST on May 15 (Friday) and concluded on Monday.

Players and non-players contributing to the cause through the event added up to Rs 1,21,199, a press release said.

Apart from this amount, Iniyan, on his part, is separately contributing Rs 20,000 to the welfare of Erode district, from where he comes.

Iniyan played 271 games overall - 250 wins, 12 losses, 9 draws - and was engaged in the event for more than 72 hours. All the games were played in the Blitz time control (3 minutes and 2 seconds increment for each player).

The event was hosted by technology partner Internet chess club (www.chessclub.com).

Besides India, chess players from various countries including USA, Australia, UAE, Germany, Denmark, Scotland, Kuwait, Singapore and Switzerland participated in the event.

Several Indian GMs including P Harikrishna, B Adhiban, Arvind Chithambaram, D Harika and others extended their support to the 17-year old Iniyan's initiative.

Earlier, several players including former world champion Viswanathan Anand had taken part in fundraisers.