Within a short span of its inception, the South Kanara District Chess Association (R) has crossed  milestone in chess. The South Kanara District Chess Association will be organising "All India Fide Rated Open Chess Tournament" from July 2nd to July 7th, 2007 at Radhakrishna Temple Hall, Mangalore, which is the first of its kind in the coastal belt. Almost 300 players from all parts of the country will be participating in this mega event including 150 FIDE rated players.

The South Kanara District Chess Association as well as the chess lovers proudly look forward for the arrival of Grand Master Mr. Praveen Thipsey from Mumbai which is again memorable for the District for the first time, a Grand Master will be arriving in Mangalore.

The International Masters Atanu Lahiri (Fide rating - 2279), Saptarshi Roy (2417) from West Bengal, Anup Deshmukh (2247) from Maharashtra, R.R.Laxman (2282), P.Konguel (2381) from Tamil Nadu, N.Sudhakar Babu (2340) representing Indian Bank, D.P.Singh (2466) who originates from jharkhand, now representing Indian Railways, Chennai and the youngest IM of our country 15 years old Shyamsundar (2247) have confirmed their participation.

In addition to the above players, the under 10 world Champion, Fide Master Girish A.Kaushik from Mysore, Under 8 Girls World Champion, Fide Master Ivana M.Furtado from Goa, Under-10 Asian Champion, Fide Master G.V.Saikrishna from A.P., the youngest Fide rated player of our country Master Harshal Shahi from Delhi, National Womens 'A' player Nimmi A.George from Kerala will be participation in this event. Many more national and International performers too will be joining them in this event.

From Karnataka, ex National under-25 champion Tej Kumar (2323), 7 times State champion N.Sanjay (2339) representing Income Tax Department, current State Champion B.S.Shivanandan (2326), the Ekalavya Award winner Shriram Sarja (2274), the 3 times State Woman champion K.Shruthi have confirmed their participation. N.Sanjay,B.S.Shivanandan and Tej Kumar have been selected to the National 'A' thus creating a record of 3 players from the Karnataka State for the first time.

State / National players of the South Kanara District Ms.K.Manasa, Viani D'Cunha, Gahan M.G.,Ananthram R.U., former State Champion Sriram Kote, former National 'A'player Gopal Krishna P., Prakash V.Rao, Vishwas Saralaya, Venessa D'Souza, Shalon J.Pais, Lenita Mathias and others are participating in the event.

Players from Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Delhi, West Bangal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Pondichery will be arriving at Mangalore in big numbers to participate in this major event.

The tournament having 10 rounds with total Cash Prize Fund of Rs.1,50,000/-, the total number of prizes being 60. Top 3 players of various age categories will be given trophies along with cash prize.

The tournament will be inaugurated by Sri D.V.Sundar,General Secretary of All India Chess Federation, Chennai at 10a.m. on 2nd July 2007. The Guests of Honour for the inaugural function will be Sri Mohan Alva from Alva's Education Foundation, Moodabidri, Sri M.R.Vasudev, Director of Mangalore Airport, Sri Yogish Bhat, M.L.A., Mangalore, Mr.Achuthananda Reddy, President, United Karnataka Chess Association, Bangalore, Sri T.Damodar Pai, D.G.M. of Canara Bank, Mangalore.

For the Prize distribution on 7th July, at 3-30 P.M., the Karnataka Bank Chairman Sri Ananthakrishna, Sri A.Mohan Rao, General Manager, Corporation Bank, Sri Krishna Palemar, M.L.A., South Zone I.G.P. Sri H.N.S. Rao will be the Chief Guests and will be distributing the prizes to the winners.

The Coastal district players will be benefited from this tournament to attain the Fide rating and enhance their Fide rating. With this event, Mangalore is going to be recognised and highlighted in the Chess map of India.

The South Kanara District Chess Association is planning 1 National, 4 State level and 6 District and Inter-District tournaments every year. Special training for District players selected for State / National events is planned apart from the ongoing chess training. With these continuous efforts the prime aim of the District Association is to create a platform for Chess playes and support them to perform in the National and International events.

Mr.Prafull Javeri from Maharashtra will be the Chief Arbiter for this event.