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National School Blind Chess Championship: Megha, Somendra grab top spots in open category
Megha Chakraborty (1232) and Somendra (1423), the only two FIDE rating players in the tournament, who are both 17 years old, had an easy start to the their campaign
Megha Chakraborty and Somendra BL played to their experience to clinch the top spot in the open category of the National School Chess Championship for the Blind which concluded at Mumbai Maratha Fruitwala Dharamshala, Alandi, on Saturday.
Chakraborty (1232) and Somendra (1423), the only two FIDE rating players in the tournament, who are both 17 years old, had an easy start to the their campaign.
Chakraborty won all the nine rounds to earn nine points, but she faced tough competition against Suma Sree L of Netra Vidyalaya, Telangana, in round seven.
“It was the toughest match of the tournament, she almost had a chance to defeat me before I managed to secure victory,” added Chakraborty who is now preparing to play the National Blind Championship in Surat in January 2020.
A student of the Calcutta Blind School, Kolkata, Chakraborty who has earlier represented India at Asian Para Games was excited to see many partially blind and blind chess players delivering impressive performances.
“I met many talented players. They just need the right guidance.I am sure they will all become really good chess players someday,” added Chakraborty.
Sayali Shitole from the Poona School and Home for Blind School and Khusali Khorasiya from Andh Kanya, Gujarat won second and third place in the girls category.
Somendra BL struggles before reaching the top
Somendra BL, who had not played many tournaments in 2019, had a few tough rounds before managing to score 8 1/2 to grab the top spot in the boys’ open category.
“I had to play safe against Sam Paniel P of Tamil Nadu. I drew my match against him. He is a very good player and he will be a threat in the future to many players,” said Somendra.
“It was a tough tournament, I did win eight matches, but all were tough battles,” added Somendra.
Bengal, Delhi win team championship
Bengal team consisting of Chakraborty and Shahina Ibrahim secured a 15-14 point victory over Poona School and Home for Blind (Sayali Shitole and Muskan Pardeshi) to clinch the team championship trophy.
Among the boys, Delhi’s experienced players – Somendra BL, Rakesh and Pawan scored a 22- 20.5 point win over GHS Tamil Nadu (Pandiyan E, Gopinathan M and Karuppaiya E).
