GACC Chess Championship 2017 bolstered by MOE accreditation
KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has accredited the 21st Grand Asian Chess Challenge (GACC) as a national level event.
University of Malaya Tuanku Bahiyah Residential College Master Associate Prof Dr Nahrizul Adib Kadri said this is the first time they've received such accreditation after having organised the Open Age-Group Chess Championship in 2015.
"The main difference between this year's GACC with the previous one is we received more participation in the open-age category.
"And this is the first time that the Education Ministry has accredited this event as a national level event," Nahrizul said during a press conference after he attended the GACC PriceAbuse.com Open Chess Championships 2017 and PriceAbuse.com Open Age-Group Chess Championship 2017 prize-giving ceremony at Kompleks Perdanasiswa, University of Malaya here.
Also present at the event was MCA National Youth Sports Bureau chief Chua Hock Kuan and 21st GACC Chess Championship chief director Daniel Wong Guan Xiang.
About 450 people had participated in the PriceAbuse.com Open Age-Group Chess Championship 2017, compared to 250 in last year's tournament.
Nahrizul said the accreditation will put the tournament at a better standard and serve as a morale booster for the students to do better in the sport.
Meanwhile, Wong said the 21st GACC international category will be held from Thursday till Jan 24.
He said students from India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka will participate in this year's tournament.
Poluri Bharath Kumar Reddy from India won the open category, with Muhd Syakir Shazmeer Azhar in second place and Ahmad Muzzaffar third.
Malaysian universities will make up almost a third of the total number of competitors.
The 21st GACC, organised by Tuanku Bahiyah Residential College, aims to promote chess as a hobby to students, from primary schools to universities, and to the public at large.
It also serves as a platform for local students to participate in a national-level chess tournament and interact with schools from other states.