Kush Bhagat of the American School of Bombay (BKC) and Harshita Maheshwari of the Cathedral and John Connon School (Fort) were both crowned champions winning the boys’ and girls’ U-10 titles respectively in the annual Inter-School Chess Championships conducted by the Mumbai District Chess Association, which concluded at the Dharavi Sports Complex on Sunday.
Kush Bhagat
Candidate Master Kush and Harshita scored 8.5 and 8 points respectively in the 9 rounds competition to clinch the top honours.
Seven-year-old Kush, (with a FIDE rating of 1521 elo points) is already, the reigning U-7 World School Blitz Chess champion and a triple gold medallist of the Western Youth Chess Championships. The kid, coached by FIDE Master Balaji Guttula of the South Mumbai Chess Academy (SMCA), had no problems in winning the title after going past senior and experienced players in the competition.
Harshita Maheshwari
But Harshita (also from the SMCA) won against all expectations, as she began the event as a lower seeded candidate but went ahead of everyone with an incredible score of 8 points.
Final standings after 9 rounds (top 5): Boy’s U-10: 1. Bhagat Kush (8.5 points), 2. Kadakia Veer (8), 3. Aarav Dengla (8), 4. Aarav Lakhani (7.5), 5. Shah Jaisal (7).
Boys’ U-12: 1. Mullick raahil (9), 2. Bang Atharva (8), 3. Shome Shiv (7.5), 4. Dev Shah (7.5), 5. Hriday Dharmesh Shah (7).
Boys U-14: 1. Om Kharola (8.5), 2. Shintre Neel (8), 3. Mhatre Rahat Rahul (7.5), 4. Siddhanth Lohia (7.5), 5. Butala Krish (7.5).
Boys’ U-16: 1. Shah Rishab (8.5), 2. Sarvesh Kumar (8), 3. Panesar Vedant (7.5), 4. Shine Shreeyash (7.5), 5. Jain Shourya (7.5).
Girls’ U-10: 1. Maheshwari Harshita (8), 2. Pawar Sarah (7.5), 3. Gajre Prutha (7.5), 4. Salunkhe Mrudhula (7.5), 5. Mukharjee Shreya (7.5).
Girls’ U-12: 1. Kriti Mayur Patel (9), 2. Aarna Chugh (8), 3. Shah Misha (7), 4. Shah Viha (7), 5. Shah Parag (7).
Girls’ U-14: 1. Ananya Rishi Gupta (6.5/7), 2. Samyukta Banthia (6.5), 3. David Avril R (6), 4. Desai Sailee (6), 5. Tank Bhoomi (6).
Girls’ U-16: 1. Tuti Mayur Patel (6.5/7), 2. Khandelwal Kushi (6), 3. Nanda Shristee (6); 4. Bajaj Anandamayi (6), 5. Ekaa Desai (5.5).