Mandar Lad emerged the state champion in the Goa State Selection tournament and will play at the National Senior (Open) Fide Rating Chess Championship 2024.
Mandar (2245) of Bardez defeated Devesh Naik (1955) Ponda in the 8th round and Aayush Shirodkar (1818) of Salcete in the ninth and final round to emerge as the champion, where he collected a total of 8.5 points with an unbeaten record. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000 and a trophy.
Emerging youngster Aaryavrat Rasiket Naik Desai (1577) of Canacona was placed second after defeating Joshua Mark Telles (1668) of Salcete in the 8th round and Kanishk Sawant (1538) in the 9th round to finish with a score of 7.5 points. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 7000 and a trophy, while remaining unbeaten in the tournament and gaining 131 Elo points.
Devesh Naik got the better of Mayuresh Desai (1656) of Sattari in the final round to finish third in the tournament by scoring 7 points. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 5000 and a trophy. Shubh Vishnu Borkar (1676) of Salcete managed to outwit Rajveer Patil (1572) of Mormugoa in 9th round to finish fourth in the tournament by scoring 7 points. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 3500 and a trophy.
The top four players will represent Goa in the Senior National Chess Championship, scheduled from August 17th to 27th, 2024, in Haryana.
The 5th to 20th prizes were awarded to the following players: Rishikesh Parab, Gunjal Chopdekar, Aayush Shirodkar, Vibhav Kerkar, Erwin Albuquerque, Edrick Vaz (all with 6.5 points); Kanishk Sagar Sawant, Datta Kambli, Chaitanya V Gaonkar, Shriya Patil, Rajveer Patil, Sairaj Narvenkar, Mayuresh Laxlabh Desai, Rishit Gawas, Joshua Mark Telles and Anish Naik.
Category-wise prizes were also awarded to the following players: U15 Boys: 1st: Chaitanya Sushant Patil (5 points) 2nd: Shuban Chandrakant Malkar (5 points). Girls: 1st: Sanika Shyamrao Naik (4.5 points) 2nd: Avni Atul Kamat (4 points).
U13 Boys: Satyam Phal (5.5 points), Avnish Borkar (5 points) Girls: Lyia Marysil Silveira (5.5 points), Jennica Sequeira (5 points).
U11 Boys: Saras Summer Powar (5.5 points), Shaurya N Prabhu Agrasani (5.5 points) Girls: Skyla Rodrigues (5 points) Jensina Sequeira (5 points).
U9 Boys: Vihaan Tari (5.5 points), Sarthak G Naik (5 points) Girls: Shinel Rodrigues (5.5 points), Vania Vaibhav Dukle (3.5 points).
U7 Boys: Prayank Gaonkar (5.5 points),
Evan Antonio Telles (4.5 points) Girls: Sidonia Dacunha (3.5 points), Aaradhya Dessai (3.0 points).
Naksh Arsekar (5.5 points) was named the best unrated player, while Pradip Kulkarni (4.5 points) and Sani Gawas (5.5 points) emerged the best veteran player and best woman player.
The tournament was organised by the Goa Chess Association from July 24 to 28 at the Govt College of Commerce and Economics in Margao. The tournament saw a total of 111 participants, including 45 rated players.
