Kolkata witnessed an invigorating session of quizzing at the 56th Neil O'Brien's DI Open Quiz 2026, held at the Dalhousie Institute on Saturday. This heritage quiz, the second oldest in the country, is conducted in memory of legendary quiz master Neil O'Brien. This year, a record-breaking 112 teams registered for the written preliminary round, surpassing last year's tally of 108 teams.
Preliminary Round and Finalists
The written prelims consisted of 30 questions, which most participants found manageable. From this pool, eight teams advanced to the finals to compete for the prestigious Errol Cowper Trophy. The finalists included Smash & Grab, Sarbomongala Sporting Club, Quiz Lovers of Kolkata, Smells Like Team Spirit, Inmanaics, Cornered Tigers, DI (A), and What's In A Name.
Quiz Masters and Rounds
Quiz masters Shouvik Guha and Andrew Scolt took turns steering the eight teams through six rounds of engaging questions. Scolt also conducted a special Derek's Round, designed in the style of Derek O'Brien. After seven intense rounds, Smells Like Team Spirit emerged as the clear winners, with Inmaniacs securing second place and What's In A Name finishing third.
Winning Team and Awards
Smells Like Team Spirit, comprising young professionals Saswata Acharya, Souptik Das, Aditya Narayan Sen, and Arunoday Chaudhuri, expressed delight at their victory. Saswata remarked, "The questions were excellent and well-researched." The winning trophy was presented by DI president Syed Hanan Ali. Additionally, The Heritage School team received a scholarship for being the top scorers among school teams.
Hall of Fame Induction
Ian Zachariah and Brian Cecil, who have quizzed together on the same team for 30 years since 1970, were inducted into Neil O'Brien's Quizzing Hall of Fame 2024. Both sent video messages as they could not attend the event in person.
Organizers' Remarks
Shouvik Guha expressed, "It's a privilege to conduct the DI Open Quiz once again, and we are honored to carry on Neil O'Brien's legacy." Andrew Scolt added, "We were overwhelmed by the response, despite it being held in the middle of summer holidays. It was heartening to see so many school teams participate and correctly answer questions that seniors could not. They even dominated the audience questions."
Navin Jayakumar, last year's Hall of Fame inductee, who flew down specially for the quiz, said, "Coming to Kolkata is like coming home, and it is sheer joy to recall all those memories of quizzing here."
