Nagpur, Sept 17
Arush Chitre emerges as the sole leader in the open group after fifth round whereas three shared lead in the girls group after third round in District Under-11 Open and Girls Chess Championship being organised by Chess Association Nagpur in association with G.H.Raisoni Sports and Cultural Foundation and Kalpana Prakash Welfare Foundation at Vivekanand Hall, Shraddha House, Kingsway, Near Kasturchand Park, Nagpur.Three girls those who shared lead include Riddhi Agrawal, Sparkle Zunzunwala and Swanandi Anil Sole.
In the open group, the top seed Jay Sawalakhe was held to a draw by Ritwik Agrawal in the first round itself. Second seed Sanskar Gaigore went down against Ved Ghodmare in the second round. In the girls group, top seed Vedika Pal was stunned by 8th seed shraddha Bajaj and second seed Lakshita Kranti Rathod went down against 10th seed Divyanshi.
Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Archana Kotwal Bendre who is the first Shiv Chhatrapati Award Winner for chess in Vidarbha by playing a move on the chess board. PRO of Raisoni Group Amit Gandhare was the guest of honour. MCA tournament committee member SS Soman, CAN secretary Bhushan Shriwas and others were also present on the occasion.
The tournament has attracted 43 entries in open group and 24 entries in girls group Two players each from open and girls group will rrepresent Nagpur district in the coming Maharashtra State Under-13 FIDE Rating Chess Championship to be held at Nagpur from October 2 to 4 .
Trophies will be distributed to top two finishers in each group whereas medals will be awarded to participants finishing from 3rd to 10th in the final list.
Amrish Joshi is the chief Arbiter who is being assisted by Prayas Ambade and Prathamesh Machave.