Arha Waghmare wins under-13 and under-14 titles at LIC-Mumbai Mayor's Cup school chess

FIDE-rated Arha Waghmare put up a brilliant show at the LIC-Mumbai Mayor's Cup school chess tournament, finishing first in both the under-13 and under-14 sections to win a double title.

The tournament was organised by Ideal Sports Academy and the Anandrao Adsul Charitable Trust, with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) as co-sponsor.

In the under-13 section, Arha won all his games and gave no opponent a foothold. In the under-14 section he faced a stiff challenge. In the deciding fifth round, FIDE-rated Pranav Jain was the sole leader, but Arha beat him in 32 moves. With that win, Arha finished first on 4.5 points.

In the under-14 section, Pranav Jain was second with 4 points, Arham Gada third with 4 points, Aryan Uparkar fourth with 3.5 points and Mayuresh Patil fifth with 3.5 points.

Arha Waghmare, who won both titles, was honoured with a prize presented by the state's Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. In all, 215 school players took part, including FIDE-rated sub-junior players from different districts. Notably, 28 players from municipal schools entered the tournament for the first time and played well.

In the under-10 section, Ananya Chavan held off the challenge of FIDE-rated Ansh Sharma and Greeva Jain. She won all five of her round-robin games to take the title. Ansh Sharma (4 points) was second, Greeva Jain (4 points) third, Sadhana Khumar (3 points) fourth and Mahir Wadambe (3 points) fifth.

In the under-6 section, Eric Picardo finished first with five points. Aareen Shukla (4 points) was second, Vihaan Ahuja (4 points) third, Zeus Wadia (4 points) fourth and Soham Kamble (4 points) fifth.

The tournament was held with the support of the Mumbai Mayor, CBEUM, RMMS and the Mumbai City Chess Association. Former MLA Captain Abhijit Adsul, player Govindrao Mohite, sports enthusiasts Sunil Salvi, Vishnu Tandel and Janardan More, Shivchhatrapati award winner Leeladhar Chavan and CBEUM office-bearers were present at the prize distribution ceremony.