A DAY TO REMEMBER....

It was a sunny day on Saturday Sept 7th 2019 on the astroturf grounds of Mallya Aditi International School. By 8am, the place was buzzing with activity. 110 Chess players representing 26 teams from 11 schools had arrived giving an enthusiastic start to the exciting day ahead.
This was the Inaugural Inter-School Chess Tournament at Aditi.
I had spent past 6 weeks putting together the various pieces of the puzzle that form organizing a tournament. I had reached out to my old school’s Chess teacher Mr. K. Somanath for guidance and outreach. I had created a proposal for my current school Mallya Aditi International School’s Principal’s office that enthusiastically accepted the proposal and gave the nod for me to go ahead.
The objective of the Inaugural Inter-School Chess Tournament was to foster awareness and participation in chess among Aditi students and make an Aditi contribution to chess ecosystem in the city. I had earlier participated in and organized many such tournaments for my community, but it was the first time for me to do it at a very large scale. Organizing involved many activities which helped me appreciate the efforts that go into it. I recruited a core team of organizers mainly comprising school staff, teachers, and Principal’s office, but undoubtedly, I had the overall responsibility for execution, from big to small details. I had to reach out to schools, create email flyers, banners, design and order prize medals, winner shields and certificates, list of rules, recruit arbiter, arrange for hall, furniture, water, snacks, lunch, clocks, chess boards, PA system, flowers, greet and receive visiting teams, assign tables to players according to FIDE rules, and receive and seat visiting guests, teachers, parents, arbiters, referees, and the chief guest.
The day began with the enthusiastic participants arriving as early as 7.30 am. Registrations started at 8:00 am and by 9.15 am all participants were in the big hall for the players meet. The tournament was officially declared opened by Principal Mr. Sathish Jayarajan. After a brief talk about the rules and regulations by the Chief International Arbiter Mr. Vasanth B.H., the first round of the tournament commenced.

It was heart-warming to see the players of all ages playing their moves like seasoned grand masters with rapt concentration and calm and collected demeanor. There were five rounds and it was wonderful to see the children finishing all the rounds calmly and on time.

The tournament proceeded smoothly. Everyone including visiting children, their parents, and external guests were effusive in praising the flawless organization and the care with everything was done, from arrangements of hall, tables, chairs, seating, to snacks, water, tea, coffee, lunch. Each visitor felt supported, cared for, and the participating children had nothing but chess to focus on.
Prize distribution started at 4.00 pm and there was huge applause for the participants winning the prizes. The Principal thanked the organizers which included not just me but also parents, school teachers, and staff. It was a collective team effort expended with pride and purpose. I felt deeply grateful for their unflinching support.
Personally, the tournament was a very satisfactory event for me. It gave me invaluable insights into organizing events, and as a result I now have many-fold appreciation of the efforts organizers have to put in. So in future when I myself go to tournaments, I will most certainly have a fresh and much better perspective, and several fold appreciation.
All in all, the day assured me once again of the power of chess in developing life skills that are essential, learn to savor success and perhaps more importantly accept defeat to rise up and try again, learn to appreciate others’ perspectives, anticipate moves, strategize, plan, and in the end from all of it, become an incrementally better person than at the start of the day.