The Fiji Chess Federation has named two teams to feature in the Junior Online Chess League tomorrow.
“Chess is luckily one of the few sports that can go online and encourage social distancing in competition,” said FCF president Hilda Vukikomoala.
“Like all other sports around the world, COVID-19 has changed the way we have to operate. Just like the Tokyo Olympics, the World Chess Olympiad is also postponed to 2021 in Moscow, Russia.”
Leading the Under-18 team are siblings Rudr Prasad of Jai Narayan College and Tanvi Prasad of Deenbandhoo Memorial Primary School.
Joining them are Makayla Sukhu of Gospel Primary School and Ayush Chand of Deenbandhoo Memorial Primary School.
The tournament has attracted more than 280 players across 18 cities in Australia and New Zealand in the past few weeks.
Ex-national reps confirmed to participate include Candidate Master Taione Sikivou, Prashant Sarup, Aarti Sewak and Avinesh Nadan of Nadi.
The championship features 8 players from Australia, 8 from New Zealand, and 8 from Fiji under 5-minutes plus 3-second increment per move format with 7 rounds of play.
More online chess championships are expected around the world as COVID-19 pushes all sports away from the field.
The tournament will be played from 7pm-9pm (Fiji Time) on Sunday, May 3, 2020, via Zoom Online Conferencing.
