Sport - Tennis

Sasikiran heads strong field

KOLKATA: A total of 114 players from 15 countries have confirmed their participation in the third Kolkata Open chess tournament beginning at the Gorky Sadan here on Monday.

The field includes 18 Grandmasters, 30 International Masters, one WGM and five WIMs. The star attraction will be India’s Krishnan Sasikiran, the highest-rated player with 2677.

The meet, according to organiser Alekhine Chess Club, is the second strongest Open in Asia (given the number of GMs participating) and the strongest in Asia by the average rating of the participants. There are 30 foreign players and 62 in the field are titled.

The 10-round Swiss League tournament will run from March 24 to April 2. It will offer $22,500 (Rs. 9 lakh) as prize money with the winner set to win $5,000 (Rs. 2 lakh). — Special Correspondent

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