The 31st Fiji Bitter Open Chess Championship completed on 9 October 2011 at the Fiji School of Medicine (Pacifica Campus) at Extension Street, Suva. Chessmaster Manoj Kumar won the final tournament before the National Championship with an unbeaten 6 wins. Veteran Dr Neel Arora and Goru Arvind finished 2nd and 3rd with 4 wins and 1 draw from some very complex games. Juan Clomera and the talented Ronald Terubea ended their 2011 season on a high note with 4 wins each to claim the 4th and 5th positions.

The Under 1600 category was dominated by Seru who amassed 5 wins from 6 games. He continues to add victories in this category in his long and patient chess career. Wayne Areki and Tarvimeous held the 2nd and 3rd positions with 3 wins each. Sigatoka Methodist School Teacher Praneel Sharma made a modest debut at 4th place by scoring 3 wins. This was an achievement for someone who attempted to play at a formal tournament for the first time and had never used time control during practice sessions.

(Photo: The tournament attracted many young players of various skill levels)

Hilda Vukikimoala earned herself another win in the female category as she became the highest scoring female with 4 wins off her 6 games. She managed to edge veteran Gloria Sukhu for the top prize since Gloria had 3.5 points. Youngsters Martin Fussner and Jacqui Masi won the Secondary School's and Primary School's categories with some impressive gameplay which outwitted most of their rivals.

A prize pool of $ 1000 was shared by the winners in various categories. It is hoped that chess will continue on a bigger scale in 2012, after the National Championship ends the year with some fireworks.