State chess meet in Pune from November 7

Pune, Oct 27 (UNI) Top players from the state will be vying for honours in the Bandhutwa Group Maharashtra State Chess championship clubbed with the international rating chess tournament which gets underway here from November 7 to 11.

The prestigious tournament, which returns to Pune after a gap of two years, is being jointly hosted by the Bandhutwa Group and the Pune District Chess Association (PDCA), offering a total prize money of Rs 75,000.

Briefing sportscribes here today, Maharashtra Chess Association (MCA) joint secretary Joseph D'Souza said the meet, clubbed with the Fide international rating, would enable the GMs, IMs, and others to enhance their ratings.

The championship was held at Nagpur last year and was confined only to the state tournament, Mr D'Souza informed.

Bandhutwa Group president Milind Pokale, who also addressed the press conference, said the organisation had been instituted four years back and had hosted the district meet last year.

''With the help of PDCA and Central Maharashtra Chess Association (CMCA), we will endeavour to host an international level championship next year,'' Mr Pokale said.

MCA treasurer Rajendra Konde, speaking on the occasion, promised to promote chess at the grass root level so as to tap talent at an early age.

The Pune championship will serve as the basis for selecting top five players to represent Maharashtra in the national team chess championship.

As many as 150 entries are expected for the meet. The last date for accepting entries is November 5, Mr D'Souza said.

Pune IM Chandrashekar Gokhale along with Arun Deshmukh and Vikramaditya Kamble from Nagpur will be the top draw in the meet, Mr D'Souza added.

The tournament will be played on nine rounds of Swiss League and the winner will receive a cash award of Rs 20,000, the championship trophy, and a merit certificate. The runnerup will receive a cash award of Rs 14,000, a trophy and a merit certificate. Cash awards will be given up to tenth place while the eleventh to fifteenth placed players will also be give away Rs 1,000 each and a merit certificate. Besides, cash awards will also be presented to players under the age groups of Under-15 to Under-7.

UNI IS MAZ AY BS1633