Unbeaten Saras Summer Powar and Saeeja Gunesh Dessai emerged sole leaders in the Open and Girls categories respectively, at the Goa State Selection U-15 Open & Girls FIDE Rating Chess Championship 2026 in progress in Margao. Both players have scored an impressive 5.5 points out of 6 rounds.
The sixth round action unfolded at the B.P.S. Sports Club Hall, Pajifond, on Saturday. Saras Powar (1802) of Salcete defeated Prayank Gaonkar (1542) of Salcete on the top board in the Ruy Lopez opening to take sole lead in the tournament. On Board 2, Vihaan Tari (1711) of Tiswadi was held to a draw by Rishit Gawas (1746) of Mormugao in a closely contested Sicilian opening encounter. Top seed Joshua Mark Telles (1975) of Salcete registered a convincing victory over Avnish Borker (1567) of Ponda on Board 3 of a Carokann opening , while Shubh Vishnu Borkar (1828) of Salcete outplayed Arnav Pankajkumar Dhote (1446) of Tiswadi on Board 4 in the Ruy Lopez. Meanwhile, Aarav Chopdekar (1686) of Mormugao held the higher-rated Aaryavrat Rasiket Naik Desai (1759) of Canacona to a draw on Board 5 in a Sicilian .
In the Girls category, top seed Saeeja Dessai (1650) of Salcete defeated Asmi Terse (1522) in an irregular opening of Salcete on the top board. On Board 2, Anvi Desai (1448) of Canacona shared the point with Krutika Aggarwal (1465) of Bardez in a London system game. Shrivalli Sanjay Gandhi (1413) of Tiswadi held the higher-seeded Lyia Marysil Silveira (1555) of Tiswadi in a Kings Indian set up to a draw on Board 3. On Board 4, Israa Rikarty (1518) of Salcete scored an upset victory against the higher-rated Skyla Rodrigues (1558) of Salcete in an Italian game, while Alaina Gomes (1520) of Salcete defeated Muriel Shanessa Fernandes of Sanguem on Board 5.
The final three rounds of the nine-round championship will be played tomorrow, 10th May 2026, at the esteemed B.P.S. Sports Club Hall, Pajifond, Margao, Goa. The championship and will select four players each from the Open and Girls categories to represent Goa at the National U-15 Chess Championship scheduled to be held in Punjab from 14th to 22nd September 2026. This marks the first occasion that the Salcete Taluka Chess Association, in association with B.P.S. Sports Club, is conducting the event as a FIDE Rating Tournament, featuring a total prize pool of Rs. 40,000 and 36 trophies.
