Record entries at the Gujarat State Rapid and Blitz 2018

by Sagar Shah - 24/04/2018

Chess is booming just about everywhere in India. Gujarat which would witness around 50-100 entries for the State Rapid and Blitz selection, saw nearly 200 participants fighting it out for the title of the fastest player in the state. The work that Gujarat State Chess Association is doing at the grassroot level is surely bearing fruits. The winner of the blitz event was the young 14-year-old Vrandesh Parekh, while the rapid section was won by the experienced player from Vadodra Maulik Raval. We have the report of this entire tournament that was organized by ChessBase India Power.

ChessBase India Power recently organized (14th and 15th April) its first tournament in Ahmedabad under the aegis of Gujarat State Chess Association. It was the Gujarat State Rapid and Blitz Selection Tournament that saw a record number of 200 participants. Two players from each section were to be selected for the National Rapid and Blitz. The event was held at the Sports Club in Ahmedabad.

The playing hall was packed to the brim

The opening ceremony taking place with players raring for the action to begin on the board

Maulik Raval, known for his attacking and aggressive style of play, won the Rapid section

Maulik realized the importance of one second, when he down to his very last second on the clock against the talented youngster Naitik Mehta. Raval pressed the clock and got a few seconds as increment! Chess does teach you the value of time!

Even at the age of 80+ this man is takes his job of being an arbiter very seriously. Very inspiring!

Santosh Kumar Sinha is a highly experienced chess player of Gujarat and has trained some great talents. Just three months ago he beat one of India's biggest talents D.Gukesh. We did interview him after the game:

Santosh Kumar Sinha explains his win over Gukesh at the Bhopal International 2017

Maulik Raval won the State Rapid Championship 2018 by scoring 7.0/8. It was a five way tie at the top but Maulik had the best tiebreak.

The top four finishers in the rapid section. (From left to right): Jalpan Bhatt, Kartavya Anadkat, Maulik Raval, Karan Trivedi

Vrandesh Parekh, the talented youngster, won the title of Gujarat blitz champion 2018. He is being handed his first prize by Ankit Dalal, the organizer of the event.

Top four spots in the blitz section (from left to right): Parth Panchal, Vrandesh Parekh, Santosh Kumar Sinha and Ansh Shah

Interview with the winners Vrandesh Parekh and Maulik Raval by Ankit Dalal

The event was organized by ChessBase India Power and it was obvious to have the high quality books and softwares available at the shop. If you too would like to have these books at your event, write to us at qualitychessindia@gmail.com

Final rankings in Rapid section

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	Maulik Raval	IND	2038		7,0	0,0	42,0	46,5
2	4	Anadkat Kartavya	IND	1976	BJP	7,0	0,0	40,0	43,5
3	6	Trivedi Karan R	IND	1909		7,0	0,0	39,5	42,5
4	3	Bhatt Jalpan	IND	2002		7,0	0,0	39,5	42,0
5	53	Parekh Vishrut	IND	1405		7,0	0,0	37,5	40,0
6	79	Samdani Sahil Sagar	IND	1270		6,5	0,0	41,0	44,5
7	1	Sinha Santosh Kumar	IND	2188		6,5	0,0	39,5	43,0
8	11	Ansh M Shah	IND	1790		6,5	0,0	38,0	41,5
9	57	Mehta Naitik R	IND	1376		6,5	0,0	36,0	39,0
10	31	Bardoliwala Nirmal	IND	1514		6,5	0,0	32,0	35,0
11	14	Chudasama Ankit	IND	1755		6,0	0,0	39,0	43,0
12	5	Rawal Shailesh	IND	1936		6,0	0,0	37,0	40,5
13	37	Bhrigu Suryanarayan	IND	1466		6,0	0,0	37,0	40,5
14	33	Trivedi Jindal	IND	1503		6,0	0,0	36,5	38,5
15	10	Patel Nishrut R	IND	1805		6,0	0,0	35,5	39,0
16	18	Pritesh Mehta	IND	1626		6,0	0,0	35,5	37,0
17	42	Thakkar Romil J	IND	1453		6,0	0,0	35,5	36,5
18	51	Mudaliar Nandini	IND	1414		6,0	0,0	35,0	37,5
19	62	Shah Vandan P	IND	1362		6,0	0,0	34,5	37,0
20	19	Dhanesha Jignesh	IND	1622		6,0	0,0	34,5	36,5

Complete ranking list

Final rankings in blitz section:

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	44		Vrandesh Parekh	IND	1480		7,5	0,0	35,5	37,5
2	29		Panchal Parth	IND	1577		7,0	1,0	39,0	42,0
3	1		Sinha Santosh Kumar	IND	2161		7,0	0,0	38,5	42,5
4	11		Ansh M Shah	IND	1790	IG	6,5	0,0	41,0	44,0
5	5		Trivedi Karan R	IND	1909	IG	6,5	0,0	37,5	40,5
6	27		Joy Pankaj Shah	IND	1590	IG	6,5	0,0	34,5	37,0
7	4		Anadkat Kartavya	IND	1976		6,0	0,0	40,5	44,0
8	59		Babaria Rahil Pareshbhai	IND	1409	IG	6,0	0,0	39,5	41,5
9	8		Patel Palak	IND	1825		6,0	0,0	38,0	40,0
10	25		Dhanesha Jignesh	IND	1622		6,0	0,0	36,0	39,5
11	7		Rawal Shailesh	IND	1883		6,0	0,0	35,5	39,5
12	21		Lumbhani Nikhil P	IND	1652		6,0	0,0	34,0	37,5
13	124		Kartik Bhatt	IND	0		6,0	0,0	33,5	37,0
14	22	AFM	Ankit Dalal	IND	1643		6,0	0,0	33,0	35,0
15	31		Mudaliar Nandini	IND	1565		6,0	0,0	32,5	35,5
16	9		Saumil Nair	IND	1804		6,0	0,0	31,0	34,5
17	35		Shah Moxit J	IND	1536		6,0	0,0	31,0	33,5
18	18		Samdani Sahil Sagar	IND	1713	IG	6,0	0,0	30,0	33,0
19	2		Maulik Raval	IND	2089	IG	5,5	0,0	39,5	43,5
20	94		Patel Jaymin J	IND	1115		5,5	0,0	37,0	40,5

Complete final rankings

Coverage in newspapers:

The tournament received excellent coverage in the printed media: