Pune, September 23, 2021: A total of 150 players from all over the state will be seen in action at the 18th edition of the shri Maheshwaranand Saraswati Memorial Maharashtra Open Rapid Rating Chess Tournament which will be organized by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust and played at Manohar Mangal Karyalay, Erandwane, Karve Road, Pune from 25th to 26th September 2021.
Prakash Kunte, trustee of BKT said that The tournament will be held under the auspices of FIDE, AICF, MCA and PDCC. The event will offer total prize money of Rs 60,000. The event will be played under Swiss league format in the 9th round with the Latest FIDE rules applicable.
Due to covid entries are limited, so a total of 150 players will be seen in the action for this event. This will be the first live event after the Covid, we are taking all care to ensure an incident-free event. Participants above age 18 had submitted their vaccination certificate full or partly along with the entry form. All officials ( organiser, Arbiters, Volunteer) had completed Vaccination. Every player will be given a sanitiser after every round and each player will wear a mask while playing, Kunte informed.
The event will be played in an open category. The winner will get Rs. 15,000, while runner up will get Rs. 10,000 and the 3rd prize Rs. 7,000. Among the prominent players are IM Abhishek Kelkar(Pune,2297), IM Sameer Kathmale(Sangli,2328), IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni(Mumbai, 2337), WIM Akanksha Hagawane(Pune, 1870), Soham Phadke(Pune, 2223), Kiran Panditrao(Pune, 2026) and Vikas Sharma (Pune, 2015).
The tournament will be inaugurated at the hands of Saurabh Gadgil, MD of PNG Jewellers, Madhuri Sahasrabudhe, Corporator, Niranjan Godbole, Secretary of MCA on Saturday, 25th September 2021 at 9.30 am.
