FM Ethan Vaz (2147) of Salcete Taluka Chess Association overcame the leader IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni (2175) of Maharashtra in the final round and beat Arnav Kherdakar(1575) in the 8th Round to emerge champion in the Monginis all-India Fide-Rating Chess Tournament.
Ethan, who tallied 8 points, bagged the top prize of Rs. 35,000 and a giltering trophy. IM Sammed Shete (2269) of Maharashtra also on 8 points, drew with FM Jeet Jain (2108) in the final round and beat CM Niraj Saripalli (1970) in the 8th Round; finished second due to the tie-break being in Ethan’s favour. Shete received a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and a trophy. IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni clinched 3rd place and with it, Rs. 15,000 and a trophy.
IM Bhakti Kulkarni (2282) drew her 5th round game with FM Jeet Jain (2108) of Gujarat and suffered a shock defeat against Ethan Vaz in the 6th round to stand 4th with 7.5 points. She won a cash prize of Rs. 10,000. Devesh Anand Naik stood 5th after beating Avil D’Souza (1725) of Karnataka in the 9th Round and lost to IM Vikramaditya in the 8th Round. The winners of the 6th to 25th place are as follows: Arnav Kherdekar, Vivaan Ballikar, FM Jeet Jain, Aryan Raikar, Aayush Shirodkar, CM Niraj Saripalli, FM Ritviz Parab, Anish Naik, Reuben Colaco, Mayuresh Desai, Aniket Ekka, Srikara Dharba, Acil D’Souza, Saras Powar, Aaryavrat Desai, Sahil Naik, Kiran Chopdekar, Suresh Nemlekar, Simplicio Veigas and Bhaskar Bhrama.
In the Elo 1601-1800 category, Nadar Thangraj of Maharashtra topped. In the Elo 1401-1600 category, Wilson Cruz of Ponda, Goa stood first while Nayaz Admed of Kerala finished second. The 3rd place went to Arvind Iyer and 4th to Rama Rao K.
In the Elo 1201-1400 category, Tejas Verenkar came first while Atharva Katkar finished second. The 3rd to 5th place went to Gurbaksh Khanna, Aarush Bhat and Joshua Telles.
In the Elo 1001-1200 category, Shriya Patil was placed first while Shivanagraj Aiholli finished second. The 3rd to 5th positions went to Vignesh Sawant, Suyash Naik and Aiden Jesus Savio Grao.
In the Unrated Category, Aditya Khadilkar finished first while Diya Naik stood second. The 3rd to 5th place were bagged by Jayaram Bhat, Alysa Coutinho, and Timoteo Colaco.
In all, 173 players from all over the country participated out of which 80 players were rated including three IMs, three FMs and a CM.
Results: All India Age Group Category –
Best u-15 (Boy)-1st Khurrana Saihejbir
Best u-15 (Boy) 2nd – Roshit Jude Mathew
Best u-15 (Girl)-1st-Sayyed Mahdiya
Best u-15 (Girl)-2nd Acharya Skutika
Best u-13 (Boy)-1st -Darius Gomes
Best u-13 (Boy)-2nd- Kavish Borkar
Best u-13 (Girl)-1st -Saeeja Dessai
Best u-13 (Girl)-2nd- Jennica Sequeira
Best u-11(Boy)-1st-Arthav Shirodker
Best u-11(Boy)-2nd-Atharva Atul Borkar
Best u-11 (Girl)-1st-Diya Sawal
Best u-11 (Girl)-2nd- Lincia D’Souza
Best u-9 (Boy)-1st-Shaurya Agrasani
Best u-9 (Boy)-2nd-Rishit Gawas
Best u-9 (Girl)-1st-Skyla Rodrigues
Best u-9 (Girl)-2nd- Muriel Fernandes
Best u-7 (Boy)-1st-Prayank Gaonkar
Best u-7 (Boy)-2nd-Narayan (Aarav) Prabhudessai
Best u-7 (Girl)-1st- Vania Dukle
Best u-7 (Girl)-2nd-Drisha Ghonge
All Goa Age Group Category –
Best u-15 (Boy)-1st Roshit Antony Thomas
Best u-13 (Boy)-1st – Atharva Sawal
Best u-13 (Girl)-1st -Sayyed Maizah
Best u-11(Boy)-1st Erwin Albuquerque
Best u-11 (Girl)-1st- Navya Narvekar
Best u-9 (Boy)-1st-Aryan Naik
Best u-9 (Girl)-1st- Sanvi Redkar
Best u-7 (Boy)-1st- Evan Antonio Telles
Best u-7 (Girl)-1st- Shivanya Rao
Salcete –
1- Sarvang Pagi
2-Dwinnie Fernanades
3- Tanish Bandodkar
Veteran Prize(Above 50): Sardar Surendra and Best Women Player(Above 15) Sanvi Naik Goankar.
The Chief arbiter of the tournament was FA Ashesh Keni. He was assisted by F.A. Jostna Saripalli ,F.A.Asha Shirodkar and N.A. Sudhakar Patgar and Ridikesh Vernekar. The prizes were distributed at the hands of Chief Guest, Datta Damodar Naik, and Sushanta Naik, of Millenium Bakers and CD Developers in the presence of Ashesh Keni ,Secretary ,Goa Chess Asssociation, Rajesh Kakodkar, Secretary of Rotary Club Margao, Dilip Vernekar ,Treasurer STCA, and other dignitaries. Damodar Zambaulikar ,Vice-President proposed a vote of thanks. The tournament prizes are sponsored by Millenium Bakers, along with Rotary Club of Margao and Margao Cricket Club.
The tournament was held under the auspices of Goa Chess Association and All India Chess Federation and conducted by Salcete Taluka Chess Association and Rotary Club of Margao and Margao Cricket Club.
