Chirag Lahoti in Open Group and Swara Borkhade in Girls Group reigned supreme in the Nagpur District Under-9 Open and Girls Selection Chess Championship 2023 organized by Chess Association Nagpur in association with G.H.Raisoni Sports and Cultural Foundation and Kalpana Prakash Welfare Foundation on 2nd April 2023 at Vivekanand Hall, Shraddha House, Kingsway, Near Kasturchand Park, Nagpur.
Third Seed Chirag Lahoti annexed the title by way of a superior tie breaker over second seed Swaraj Mishra with 5 ½ points out of six rounds. Swaraj who also scored 5 ½ points was placed second. Top seed Arav Dhoot was pushed to the Third position with 5 points to his credit.
In the Girls section, Swara Borkhade scored all 5 points out of 5 rounds and won the championship by remaining unbeaten. Sanskruti Jambhulkar, Swara Rahul Gandhi and Vishwaja Deshmukh scored 4 points each and were placed 2nd to 4th in the final list judged as per their tie break scores. The fifth position was bagged by Anushka Deshpande who scored 3 ½ points.
Chirag Lahoti and Swaraj Mishra shall represent Nagpur District in Open Group and Swara Borkhade and Sanskruti Jambhulkar shall represent Nagpur District in Girls Group as regular selected players from Nagpur District in the Maharashtra State Under-9 Open and Girls Chess Championship scheduled to be held at G.H.Raisoni Institute of Management and Technology, Wadi Hingna Link Road, Nagpur from 5th May to 7th May 2023.
Due to spectacular performance of Nagpur’s Star player Vedika Pal in the last years Asian Under-9 Chess Championship held at Srilanka, the Nagpur District was entitled to field three more players this year in Girls Group. Hence, Swara Rahul Gandhi, Vishwaja Deshmukh and Anushka Deshpande were also selected to represent Nagpur District in Girls Group.
Prizes were distributed at the hands of Shri Narendra Jog, Rotarian, Managing Director of Jog Hospitality Pvt Limited (Dial for Food) & Vice President of Parshuram Co-operative Bank and Dr. Sarika Kadu, City Survey Officer and Artist. Shri S.S.Soman, Working President, Chess Association Nagpur, Shri Bhushsan Shriwas, Secretary, Chess Association Nagpur and Kalpana Prakash Welfare Foundation and Chief Arbiter IA Deepak Chavan were present on the occasion. Shri Shyam Agrawal conducted the program and also proposed vote of thanks.
Top 10 Finishers in Under -9 Open Group and Top 10 from Under -9 Girls Group got the Trophies. Medals were also given to Top players in Under 07 Category.
Chief Arbiter IA Deepak Chavan, successfully conducted the event assisted by SNA Shyam Agrawal, SNA Prayas Ambade and Prathamesh Machave.