Fiji Chess Federation

1 month ago

FIJI IN TOP 30 OF GLOBAL CHESS LEAGUE

Team Fiji closed the 2024-2025 Global Chess League season at 27 out of 77 international chess clubs after adding further to the scoreboard. Featuring chess clubs from Serbia, Iran, Great Britain, Scotland, South Africa, China, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Philippines, Hawaii, Singapore, Mexico, Italy and many others, the league is an online favorite hosted by Peter Hornsby of England.

Captained by ex-Olympiad rep Avinesh Nadan, Fiji's Online Chess Team won against Hawaii Chess Club, Chess Heroes Juniors (South Africa), Chongqing Mystyland Locust (China), and North Staff Knights (UK) apart from a draw with Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club (China) in a team effort that experimented with several new players.

"We introduced Lionel Vaurasi of Yat Sen Primary School and Aarush Ahalawat of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School in the latter half of the season," states Online Chess rep Goru Arvind. "Exposing our younger players to international opponents is part of our long-term plan to contribute to their confidence and learning curve."

In the match against Shenzhen Pengchen Chess Club, Board 1 Yash Krishen Maharaj and Board 3 Candidate Master (CM) Goru Arvind fell to Terry Fan and Shengchen Yu, while Board 3 CM Ronald Terubea won against Ben Guo 2 - 0, and Board 4 CM Rudr Prasad defeated Bangting Cao 2 - 0 in a strong fightback.

Fiji drew with Shenzhen Pengchen Chess Club (China) 4 - 4.

"Online chess is a unique sport that allows us to face-off with international opponents without the burden of travel," adds Goru Arvind. "The last set of games with live commentary by Peter Hornsby and South African Chess Coach, Andrew Horne raked at least 137,000 online views to show the magnitude of the event."

Against higher ranked North Staff Knights (UK), Board 1 Avinesh Nadan lead the onslaught by beating Harry Gardiner 2 - 0, Board 2 Yash Krishen Maharaj drew with Simon Layhe 1 - 1, Board 3 CM Rudr Prasad defeated Alan Paling 1.5 - 0.5, and Board 4 CM Goru Arvind locked in a tie against Phil Seery 1 - 1.

The combined team effort on all boards saw Fiji win against North Staff Knights (UK) 5.5 - 2.5.

Fiji's final match against Philippines Finest was a tough one where the opposition fielded a Grandmaster (GM) on Board 1, losing 1.5 - 8.5 with the lone scores coming from CM Goru Arvind (0.5) and Aarush Ahalawat (1).

Team Fiji will return to the next online season with more new players in September 2025, with over-the-board tournaments in the pipeline to aim for the 2026 World Chess Olympiad at Uzbekistan.

(Photo: Fiji's National reps having fun analyzing chess) ... See MoreSee Less

Fiji Chess Federation

2 months ago

ONLINE CHESS TEAM SCORES HAT-TRICK

Fiji's Online Chess Team piled up a hat-trick of wins in the 2025 Global Chess League that is hosted by Peter Hornsby of the United Kingdom (UK). The league features 77 international chess clubs from countries like Fiji, England, Great Britain, Poland, Czech Republic, Serbia, China, Hawaii, South Africa, Philippines, Mexico, Iran, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Australia and New Zealand to name a few.

Team Fiji started the tournament with an upset win over the higher rated Hawaii Chess Club, where Board 1 Candidate Master (CM) Taione Sikivou beat Igor Dmitriev 1.5 - 0.5, Board 2 Avinesh Nadan fell to Charles Sonido 0 - 2, Board 3 CM Ronald Terubea outclassed Chad Badgett 1.5 - 0.5, Board 4 CM Goru Arvind drew with Evan Zheng 1 - 1, and Board 5 Yash Krishen Maharaj defeated Hadriel Goo 1.5 - 0.5.

Fiji edged Hawaii Chess Club 5.5 - 4.5.

"It was a very tough match with Hawaii but the win came with team effort," states CM Goru Arvind. "Their captain messaged afterwards that they fielded a stronger team than the 2024 season where we were whitewashed 0 - 8, and it was a surprising comeback for Team Fiji."

In the match against Chess Heroes Juniors from South Africa, Board 1 Team Captain Avinesh Nadan demolished Vicent Crone 2 - 0, Board 2 Yash Krishen Maharaj beat Connor Cruikshanks 2 - 0, and Board 3 CM Goru Arvind defeated Wolf Van Der Merwe 1.5 - 0.5 to complete the victory.

Fiji won against Chess Heroes Juniors (South Africa) 5.5 - 2.5, despite falling a player short on Board 4.

"The Global Chess League allows our players to face-off with international clubs from every continent," adds Goru Arvind. "With a 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move format, some of our games are also broadcast online with 75,000+ viewers with live commentary by South African Chess Coach Andrew Horne and the tournament host Peter Hornsby. Audience like that is usually seen for 7s rugby."

Against Chongqing Mystyland Locust of China, Board 1 Avinesh Nadan fell to Qipeng Qian 0 - 2, Board 2 Yash Krishen Maharaj crushed Yanbo He 2 - 0, Board 3 CM Goru Arvind drew with Pengfei Leng 1 - 1, and Board 4 Ryan Lyons outwitted Tianli Zhang 2 - 0.

Fiji defeated Chongqing Mystyland Locust (China) 5 - 3.

The series of wins have propelled Team Fiji into the upper percentile of teams in the tournament, with much harder games to follow in weeks to come.

More news is set to follow as the event progresses.

(Photo: Members of Team Fiji's Online Chess squad) ... See MoreSee Less

Fiji Chess Federation

3 months ago

15 INTERNATIONAL TITLES, 2 NOMINATIONS FOR FIJI CHESS

Athletes, officials and administrators from Fiji Chess Federation collectively bagged 15 International Titles from the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in 2024. The feat was achieved with a membership pool of less than 100 chess players across the nation.

Administrative and official titles were achieved through accredited certification courses offered by FIDE, which include a mix of online seminars by Grandmasters (GMs), International Masters (IMs), FIDE Masters (FMs) and FIDE Arbiters (FAs) from the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe. Titles are awarded after a 2-hour online exam is assessed by FIDE.

FIDE School Instructor (SI) titles were awarded to Ricardo Gregorio III Corpuz and Taione Sikivou, while FIDE National Arbiter (NA) titles were secured by Matthew Sukhu, Anthony Tabore and Quinton Sukhu.

"15 international titles from FIDE is the best we have achieved since 1979," states Candidate Master (CM) Goru Arvind. "It converts to almost 15% of our chess players receiving international recognition in a single year, and it makes a statement for Fiji in the Oceania region."

Both Team Captains and the Head of Delegation from the 45th World Chess Olympiad at Budapest, Hungary cleared their certifications. A FIDE Instructor (FI) title was received by Taione Sikivou, FIDE National Instructor (NI) title was awarded to Goru Arvind, and FIDE Development Instructor (DI) title was confirmed for William Robert Raymond Bennion.

Additional NI titles were issued to ex-Olympiad rep Gloria Sukhu, Luisa Corpuz and Yash Krishen Maharaj of The University of the South Pacific.

"In the world of chess, titles are permanent milestones that help to increase a nation's profile," adds Goru Arvind. "Certification and exams are possible via platforms like Google Meet and Zoom, and it shows how technology can bridge geographical gaps in sports."

From the 44th World Chess Olympiad at Chennai, India, a Candidate Master (CM) title was confirmed for Rudr Prasad of The University of the South Pacific, and Women's Candidate Master (WCM) titles were awarded to Cydel Terubea and Tanvi Prasad.

17-year-old Makayla Sukhu of Suva Grammar School became the youngest title holder of the lot, with a WCM from the 45th World Chess Olympiad at Budapest, Hungary for her impressive performance at the event.

Fiji Chess Federation will be further celebrating their presence among 114 nominees in the upcoming 2024 Fiji Sports Awards on Saturday 22 March, for Sportswoman of the Year (Makayla Sukhu) and Sports Organization of the Year (Fiji Chess Federation).

(Photo: Fiji's National reps at Budapest, Hungary) ... See MoreSee Less