THE third edition of Late Umesh Panbude Benefit Online Blitz Chess Championship saw a yet another champion. Nilay Kulkarni, with 7.5 points from nine matches, was declared winner. He was tied with Dikshank Bajaj at the same score but better tie-break scores went in favour of Kulkarni.

Top Ten

Nilay Kulkarni (7.5)

Dishank Bajaj (7.5)

Suhan Deshpande (7)

Krupal Wanjari (7)

Shraddha Bajaj (6)

Sanskar Gaigore (6)

Sumedh Ramteke (6)

Muktanand Pendsey (6)

Aryan Deogade (6)

YM Shamkuwar (6)

In the event organised by Nagpur District Chess Association (NDCA), 50 players participated. The tournament was held on lichess.org. Suhan Deshpande finished third with seven points.

On his way to title, Kulkarni defeated Mukesh Pellargade, VK Shrivastava, Krupal Wanjari, Dishank Bajaj, Suhan Deshpande to race to five points from as many games. Bhavik Chaudhary then forced him to split point. Kulkarni lost the plot against Sumedh Ramteke to go down but got the better of Shraddha Bajaj and Sanskar Gaigore in last two matches. Siddhant Gawai had emerged champ in the inaugural edition while Saksham Singh won second edition of the benefit series.