20th edition of a unique event
FIDE Master and former Indian youth Under-25 champion S Mari Arul of Southern Railways took the first place in the World Chess Federation of Composition's 20th International Chess Solving contest 2024 which concluded recently at Aladi Aruna Public School, Chennai. The contest was organised by Aladi Aruna Foundation under the aegis FIDE in association with Mount Chess Academy & Magnus Chess Academy on 21st January 2024.
The second place was taken by another renowned solver S Raghuraman of Chesslang Group while the third spot went to veteran solver Seetharaman Kalyan.
January 4th of every year is celebrated as the International Day of Chess Composition and in that month contests related to Chess Problem Solving, Problem Composition and other activities are held throughout the world.
On 21st January, there were solving contest for Advanced, Intermediate solvers as well as for newcomers to the world of chess problem solving. Event was inaugurated with an introductory lecture on Chess Problem Solving and Composition by renowned International Master of Chess Composition, CGS Narayanan.
The intermediate and the junior category were won by K S Naveen and Jason Jebezilin respectively.
The problem solving contests had total of 56 participants across all categories filling up the venue hall and carried a total prize amount of ₹10000 and ₹5000 worth of cups for ten prize winners in the junior category.
The Chief Guests of the Valedictory function were Women Grand Master Savitha Shri B and Dr. V Balaji, Founder and Correspondent, Aladi Aruna Foundation jointly distributed the prizes to the winners in the presence of Mr. CGS Narayanan, International Master for Chess Composition, Event Coordinators V Ravichandran, FIDE Trainer and Candidate Master and R Muthukumar, International Arbiter.
Prize winners list
20th International Solving Contest 2023 organised by Aladi Aruna Foundation
Advanced Category
| Rank | Names | Points Scored |
| 1 | FM S Mari Arul | 21 |
| 2 | Raghuraman S | 20 |
| 3 | Seetharaman Kalyan | 17 |
| 4 | Velmurugan Nallusamy | 16 |
| 5 | Sailesh R | 16 |
| 6 | Roshan Antony C | 13 |
| 7 | Barath L | 11 |
| 8 | Rajendiran Rahu | 11 |
Intermediate Category
| Rank | Names | Points Scored |
| 1 | Naveen K S | 31 |
| 2 | Logesh Kumar R | 17 |
| 3 | Divyalakshmi R | 12 |
| 4 | Shanmathi Sree | 12 |
| 5 | Raghav S B | 11 |
| 6 | Naveenkumar K | 7.5 |
| 7 | Vivek Ramanathan | 6 |
| 8 | Yaadesh S | 5 |
Junior Category - Under-13
| Rank | Names | Points scored |
| 1 | Jason Jebezilin | 18 |
| 2 | Manish S A | 15 |
| 3 | Shritej S | 10 |
| 4 | Sanjiv Sudhan A D | 7 |
| 5 | Anandharaman N K | 6 |
| 6 | Krishanth S | 6 |
| 7 | Ananya R | 6 |
| 8 | Ashir Zoe Fernando | 5 |
V Ravichandran
Fide Trainer and Candidate Master
Local Controller for Chennai-India
International Solving Contest 2024
About the Author
V Ravichandran is an International Rated Chess player, FIDE Trainer, Candidate Master and International Arbiter. He is also a Research & Development Committee Member, All India Chess Federation. He has officiated as an Arbiter in the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022, officiated as Indian team chess coach at Commonwealth Chess Championship in Sri Lanka 2022. Furthermore, he is a founder member of Mount Chess Academy, Chennai which organised many Nationals and International rated chess tournaments.
