Promising Surinder Gupta won the VCA 8th Open Khelo Jammu Diwali Cup Chess trophy which held under the aegis of All J&K Chess Association (AJKCA) at Vivek Chess Academy (VCA), here.
A total of Rs. 5700 worth cash prizes, title trophies and medals presented to the tournament winner and other who excelled other age group events by the chief guest, Meenal Gupta, president, AJKCA in the presence of VCA coach and director, Vivek Bharti.
Meenal, a Commonwealth gold medalist and former player of the VCA share her experiences as a young trainee with the Academy. Important to mention here that the tournament was sponsored by Meenal Gupta.
Earlier, Surinder won the Diwali Cup securing highest 5.5 points while Mitansh Magotra finished second and Avni remained third. The consolation prize given away to visually impaired, Devanshu, who earned four points in this six-round competition.
The competition was so close that Surinder and Mitansh for the title as Devanshu and Avni for the third position had tie break matches. The under-10 group also witness tie break match between Agastya and Prajanya to decide the winner.
The Results: Open:Surinder Gupta, Ist; Mitansh Magotra, 2nd;Avni Sharma (4 pts), 3rd.U-13 Boys: Aadvik Gupta, Gold;Gaurav, Silver and Keshav,Bronze. U-13 Girls: Naisha Handoo, Gold;Ruby Kumari, Silver and Bhargavi,Bronze. U-10 Boys: Banaj Mahajan, Gold; Prajanya Mahajan, Silver and Agastya Bhat,Bronze. U-10 Girls:-Manushree Nischal, Gold; Raesha, Silver and Anahita,Bronze.
“Devanshu, a visually impaired player took part in the Diwali Cup and really impressed with his performance against his opponents earning four pints to be given the consolation prize,” informed Vivek Bharti.
Such players are equipped with specialized adaptive board and a second person, in this tournament. Arbiter,Stuti Gupta assisted Devanshu in his moves on the board. Amrita Gupta was the chief arbiter, who was assisted by Stuti Gupta, deputy chief arbiter in this Tournament.
The Results:Round-4: Mitansh drew Surinder; Devanshu beat Gaurav; Keshav drew Aadvik;Divyansh drew Agastya Bhat; Avni beat Prajanya; Manushree beat Adhitya;Aryaveer beat Triyam; Rudraksh beat Anahita; Triyansh beat Bhargavi; Ruby beat;Rithysh beat Pearl; Banaj beat Naisha.
Round -5: Surinder beat Aadvik; Mitansh beat Aarav; Devanshu beat Avni; Gaurav beat Agastya; Rajdeep beat Rithysh; Divyansh beat Rudraksh; Aryaveer beat Keshav; Prajanya beat Triyansh;Ruby beat Anahita; Banaj beat Manushree; Raesha beat Pearl; Naisha beat Triyam.
Round–6: Surinder beat Devanshu; Keshav beat Rudraksh; Mitansh beat Gaurav; Aadvik beat Aarav; Banaj beat Rajdeep; Triyam beat Pearl; Avni beat Devansh; Raesha beat Anahita; Agastya beat Aditya; Naisha beat Triyansh; Bhargavi beat Rithysh; Manushree beat Ruby; Aryaveer drew Prajanya.