Viresh & Shreya emerged victorious in the Maharashtra State Under 12 Open and Girls Chess Championship

Viresh Sharnarthi of Pune in Boys Group and Shreya Hipparagi of Sangli in Girls Group emerged victorious in the Maharashtra State Under 12 Open and Girls Chess Championship which concluded on 20^th March 2022 at G H Raisoni Institute of Engineering & technology College, Shraddha park, Near MIDC Police Station, Hingna- Wadi Link Road Nagpur. Viresh scored 8 points out of 9 to finish first followed by Aansh Nerurkar of Mumbai and Sanskar Gaigore of Nagpur who both scored 7.5 points. Top Seed Manas Gaikwad of Solapur and Ram Parab of Mumbai scored 7 points to finish 4^th and 5^th in the list. In the Girls group, Shreya Hipparagi scored 8.5 points followed by Shraddha Bajaj from Nagpur who scored 7.5 points. Vedika Pal scored 6.5 points to finish third. Mihira Koul of Pune and Vritika Game scored 6 points to finish 4^th and 5^th

The Prizes were distributed at the hands of Shri Dilip Dive, Ex-Chairman, NMC Education Committee, Shri Nagesh Sahare, President, AAI Foundation and Dr. Vivek Kapur, Director Raisoni Group. Adv. Nishant Gandhi, President, Chess Association, Nagpur(CAN). Shri Bhushan Shriwas, Secretary of CAN and Kalpana Prakash Welfare Foundation, Shri S.S.Soman, Working President, CAN & Tournament Committee Member of MCA and Shri Ajinkya Pingale, Chief Arbiter of the Championship were present on the dais. The Championship was organized by Chess Association Nagpur in Association Kalpana Prakash Welfare Foundation and G H Raisoni Sports and Cultural foundation. The Prizes of the event are sponsored by “Dinshaws”. 

The tournament was an official selection event for selection of Maharashtra Chess Players for participation in the National Under-12 (Open and Girls) Chess Championship to be held later this year. In addition to the regular prizes, Shri Jayant Katdare, Ex-National A players from Nagpur voluntarily contributed to the consolation prizes for Nagpur players. These consolation prizes were bagged by Arush Chitre and Vivan Saraogi in Boys Group and Riddhi Agrawal and Anvi Hirde in Girls group.

In the Boys Group Vinesh Sharnarthi and Aansh Nerurkar were selected to represent Maharashtra whereas in the Girls Shreya Hipparagi and Shraddha Bajaj were selected to represent Maharashtra in the National Under 12 Chess Championship to be held later this year.

A recognized team of arbiters headed by Chief Arbiter Mr. Ajinkya Pingale from Mumbai, Deputy Arbiter SNA Sheetal Panbude, IA Pravin Pantawane, NA Amit Temburne, Amit Bhongare, Prayas Ambade, Swati kumbhalkar, Prathamesh Machave, Gayatri panbude, Vikas bhave, Shyam agrawal, Priti mundada worked for successful conduction of the event. A Coordination Team of Raisoni College consisting of Shri Vikrant chole, Akshat Soni, Mansi munnarwar, Omkar Chavan, Pratik Raut, Ashwin Tijare, Pooja Nimje took care of necessary arrangements. Organising Team under the Chairmanship of Shri Nishant Gandhi, President, Chess Association, Nagpur, Shri Bhushan Shriwas, Organising Secretary, Shri S. S. Soman, Member of Organising Committee and officials of Chess Association Nagpur, Kalpana Prakash Welfare Foundation and G.H.Raisoni Sports and Cultural Foundation worked hard for the successful organization of the event.

Among the Nagpurians, Shraddha Bajaj had a great time as she qualified for the National Under 12 Chess Championship by finishing second. She defeated Third seed Pratiti Khandelwal and Sixth Vritika Game of Nagpur. Vedika Pal too finished Third in the list. Among the Boys, Sankar Gaigore finished Third.