Fiji Sun - July 19, 2009

The Smoking Guns was crowned overall champion of the 2009 National Chess Championships at Olympic House in Suva last night.

The team which compromised of top guns Calvin Prasad, Dr. Neel Arora and Asheel Singh raked up an impressive four out of four score. Prasad said the championship was a very competitive one.

"Although the win was good, the competition was very tough. We were undefeated throughout the day but could have lost in the last round to Bull Dogs," Prasad said.

Teams from Nadi, Levuka, and Mahatma Gandhi who fielded in a secondary and primary school sides were part of the day long competition.

Prasad is also the Fiji Chess Federation vice president. He said the one day tournament was a success.

"The turnout was good and the upcoming players were very tough to beat. Overall we had about 10 teams that took part. We have also plans to start our chess league from next month," Prasad said.

"It requires a lot of concentration and stamina to cope up with one game after the other. You need a lot of rest and no alcohol before the tournament," Prasad said.

The USP Alumni team led by Manoj Kumar, Arvind Goru and Asheesh Gautam settled for second place.

Australian Roneel Sharma sponsored the tournament.