A grand ceremony marked the opening of the Mahavir Prasad Morarka Memorial Maharashtra State Schools Chess championships (MSSCC) 2018. Former Member of Parliament Shri Kamal Morarka, son of Mahavir Prasad Morarka, inaugurated the championship by lighting the ceremonial lamp, in the presence of school children from 500 schools across Maharashtra, at the Hall of Vision, Nehru Centre, Worli, on Wednesday evening.
Ravindra Dongre, FIDE Ethics Commission member lights the ceremonial lamp in the presence of former Member of Parliament Shri Kamal Morarka and other dignitaries during the opening ceremony of the Mahavir Prasad Morarka Memorial Maharashtra State School Chess Championship 2018.
The other dignitaries present at the function was Vijay Kalantri, CMD, Digi Port Ltd., Praful Zaveri , Founder, Indian Chess School, Balaji Guttula, renowned coach & FIDE Master, CMD, SMCA and SMCA CEO Durga Nagesh Guttula.
This Chess Championship which is being conducted to commemorate the birth centenary of M.R. Morarka (1919-2018), is jointly organized by the South Mumbai Chess Academy & Indian Chess School under the auspices of the Mumbai City District chess Association (MCDCA).
Addressing the children Morarka said, “I am happy to be associated with the schools chess championship. My father, in whose memory this event is being conducted, was an avid chess enthusiast and he played the game for two hours every day. This is the perfect occasion to keep alive his memory and celebrate his birth anniversary.”
Later, Morarka played a game of chess with 3-year-old Ayaansh Shah of Harmony Montessori, the youngest participant in the championship.
Competition is being conducted for boys and girls in the Under-6, Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16 categories. Matches will be played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess and will be played over a total of nine rounds in each category in Swiss League format of 90 minutes per game with 30 seconds increment per move from move one.
The tournament offers a total prize fund of Rs 72,000 for all 12 categories. In addition the top 10 players in each category would be awarded medals and one youngest boy and girl shall be awarded a special medal. A total of 122 medals will be presented to the participants.