Top seed and overnight leader, IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni (ELO 2420) of Western Railway justified his top billing by winning the Kotak Mutual Blitz Chess Championship, which concluded, here, at Don Bosco High School, Borivali.
Winners of the different age categories in the Scholastic Chess Championship hold aloft their trophies as they pose with the dignitaries and officials at the conclusion of the tournament.
Vikramaditya reeled off twelve consecutive wins before he suffered two losses to WIM Parnali Dharia and Vaibhav Bhat, but these setbacks hardly mattered. The other players in the field lagged way behind and could not catch up with the leader Vikramaditya who completed the formality by winning the last round to score a whopping 13 points out of a possible 15 to finish in pole position and pocket the winners’ cash prize of Rs 10,000.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old, Krishnater Kushager and Ketan Boricha, both with identical scores of 11.5 points each secured the second and third positions respectively and were awarded Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 from a total cash pool of Rs 52,500.
Amongst the women players, WIM Parnali Dharia performed impressively to finish sixth. The top prize was won by Ajay Prabhu (ELO 1600-1900) followed by Malay Krishna (ELO 1300-1600), Kush Bhagat (ELO 1000-1300), Yuti Mayur Patel (best female player) & Vatsal Shah (Un-rated)
In the Scholastic Chess Championship, which was conducted simultaneously Kush Bhagar (under-8), Aarav Lakhani (under-10), Jeet Shah (under-12), Shiv Shome (under-15) emerged champions in the open category. In the girls’ competition, Aditi Kayal (under-8), Kriti Patel (under-10), Kiyarra Khaturia (under-12) and Yuti Patel (u-15) were the champions. A total of 80 trophies were awarded to the winners (20 trophies in each category).
The tournament was conducted by Indian Chess School under the aegis of Mumbai Suburban District Chess Association and was officiated by IA Prem Pandit
Top 10-Standings – Blitz chess: 1. IM Vikramditya Kulkarni, 2. Krishnater Kushager, 3. Ketan Boricah, 4. Kothari Swapnil, 5. Vaibhav Bhat, 6. WIM Parnali Dharia, 7. Amardeep Bartakke, 8. Soham Datar, 9. Sanjeev Nair, 10. Gopal Rathod.
The final standings – Open Under-8: 1. Kush Bhagat, 2. Riyan Shah, 3.
Girls’ Under-8: 1. Aditi Kayal, 2. Netra Savaikar, 3. Nishka Chandan.
Open Under-10: 1. Aarav Lakhani, 2. Aarna Chugh, 3. Om Kadam.
Girls’ Under-10: 1. Kriti Patel, 2. Shah Vrisha, 3. Shah Viha.
Open Under-12: 1. Jeet Shah, 2. Ved Shubham, 3. Aniruddha Potawad.
Girls; Under-12: 1. Kiyarra Khaturia, 2. Hetvi Pethad, 3. Kaajal Rai.
Open Under-15: 1. Tanvi Adhawade, 2. Yuti Patel, 3. Neelam Kukreja