Maharashtra State Women Selection Championship 8th-12th October 2022
Maharashtra State Women Selection Championship 8th – 12th October 2022.
This event was organised by TRF Foundation on behalf of Aurangabad District Chess Association under aegis of Maharashtra Chess Association and All India Chess Federation and held at The Chess Land, Waluj, Aurangabad.
The event was for 5 days and 9 rounds were played with time control 90 mins for first 40 moves and 30 mins with 30 secs increment from move one. A total of 52 players participated from 12 districts. The tournament was conducted in a hall recently built by the Organiser and Tournament Director Anjali Sagar which was well equipped for the event. First round started after the players meeting and the Opening Ceremony took place at 4:15pm before the start of 2nd round. Joint Secretary of Maharashtra Chess Association graced the event and encouraged women participation in the game. The Chief Guest for the event was WIM Tejaswini Sagar, Secretary TRS, along with her, the President of TRS Foundation Mr.Vikas Palande. This foundation works on promoting chess in the city. Other dignitaries present on the dais were also fellow chess promoters,
Sanjay Pungale and Pramod Borase of Chitrakoot Valley, co-sponsors and partners Sudam Zuting and Mukesh Patil, renowned Advocate Kuldip Kahalekar was also present for the ceremony.
WFM Mitali Patil of Aurangabad was the top seed of the event, Saniya Tadavi of Jalgaon, Patil Samiksha of Thane, Anushka Bapu Kutwal of Pune and the Patil sisters of Kolhapur Divya and Disha also participated in the event. Out of 52 players, 33 players were rated with an average Elo rating of 1102. All the 9 rounds were played by great enthusiasm and vigour. The tournament witnessed surprising turns, we saw an upset during round 1 on the third table where Tiwari Radhika (1105) drew 3rd seeded player Patil Samiksha (1585). Saniya Tadavi (Jalgaon) had to settle for a draw against Sani Deshpande of Aurangabad in round 2, at the same time Anushka Bapu Kutwal also faced a loss against Jagdale Ishwari of Sangli. There was tough competition at the top tables, where top seeded players fought tooth and nail for their positions.
By the end of Round 4, Patil Divya was leading with 4 points and was having half point lead in her Buchholz, followed closely by WFM Mitali Patil who also scored 4 points. But this didn’t last long as in round 5 Mitali scored a win against Divya and became the sole lead with 5 points, and she continued with her lead till round 8. In Round 8, a surprising new entrant Sakshi Chavan with Elo Rating of 1193, scoring a win against Saniya Tadavi she quickly climbed the rank ladder and with hope to come in top 5 players.
Bajaj Shraddha another one of the underrated players, scored 6.5, having drawn with both Patil Divya and Patil Mitali became a crowd favourite. Shruti Kale of Aurangabad, Patil Disha of Kolhapur and Bajaj had same points by the end of Round 9. Tie-breaks setting the record straight declared Bajaj 2nd runner up after WFM Mitali Patil (1st Rank) and Divya Patil (2nd Rank).
Top 13 women will be representing State of Maharashtra in the upcoming Nationals to be held at Kolhapur, being the host state has enabled more women to participate. The entire tournament was conducted smoothly, with continuous support of the organiser and Tournament Director Anjali Sagar, IA Deepti Shidore (Chief Arbiter), IA Preeti Deshmukh (Deputy Chief Arbiter) along with State Arbiters Mithun Waghmare and Vilas Rajput.-