YOUNG and upcoming city player Jay Sawalakhe won the Brandvilla17 State-Level Online Blitz Chess Tournament 2020 that was organised by Roshan Sir’s Chess Academy Gadchiroli on Sunday. Though Jay lost his way in the final round going down to Suhan Deshpande, he still managed to win the title. Players from Amravati, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Nagpur and Satara participated in the tournament. Players from Maharashtra State only were eligible for the event. Jay finished the event with 7.5 points from 9 rounds with a better tie break score of 41.75 and was followed by runner-up Arush Chitre, who also had 7.5 points in his kitty but a tie break score of 39.25.

 

Deshpande with 7 points secured the third place and Nagpur players made a clean sweep. Best female prizes were won by city’s Hrudaya Amabagade and Pranavi Bhagat. Among Gadchiroli players Aayush Ainchwar was the best and was followed by Soham Chilamwar and Nabha Thakre. Nayan Ramteke and Niraman Pohane bagged the top two prizes in that order for Chandrapur.

 

The event was held through the lichess.org platform and lichess user ID was mandatory for all players. Askhay Pilliwar of Brandvilla17 and Ashirwad Satyam Chakinarap sponsored the event. IA Deepak Chavan was Chief Arbiter while Ashirwad Satyam Chakinarap was Tournament Director. RESULTS (final round) Jay Sawalakhe (7.5) lost to Suhan Deshpande (7), Arush Chitre (7.5) bt Nayan Ramteke (5.5), Aditya Bodkhe (5) lost to Sumedh Ramteke (6.5), Nihaan Pohane (6) bt Rahul Sharma (5), Chetan Deodhagle (6) bt Ayush Ramteke (5.5), Aryan Deogade (6) bt Niraman Pohane (5), Shivansh (6) bt Savinay Meshram (4.5).