When you are as good as your next move: National West-Zone Chess Tournament 2017-18

The game of chess isn’t just about understanding your game well, but about reading your opponent better. The ancient game originated in India before the 7^th century. The game was designed as a way of determining battle tactics and being prepared for the possible next move of the enemy. The chess we know today is just limited to honing one’s strategy and far thinking capabilities. Out of all the board games ever designed, chess remains to be the trickiest of them all.

Research has proved that playing a game triggers logical thinking in an individual. The game of chess however has taken logical thinking to another level where chess players often are more analytical than non-chess players. It also improves one’s ability to memorize and solving a problem. Many ailments like the Alzheimer’s disease and Schizophrenia can be overcome to a large extent by playing chess.

In honor of the historical game, the National West-Zone Chess Tournament 2017-18 was organized at the JagranLakecity University, Bhopal. The tournament saw a participation of over 58 teams, men’s and 38 teams, women’s from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan, the tournament proved to be a battle of minds in all magnitudes. The tournament was broken into two segments where the men mind combated each other from 27^th Oct to 31^st Oct and women from 4^thNov to 8^th Nov. The individual ceremonies were inaugurated by Shri. Hari Mohan Gupta, Chancellor, Jagran Lakecity University and the man who has ‘Olympian’ attached to his glorious name, Mr. Ashok Dhyan Chand.

Like every battle comes out with a champion, this one did too. The gold medal (Men’s) was bagged by Savitribai Phule University, Pune, silver medal by University of Mumbaiand bronze medal by RTM University, Nagpur. The gold medal (Women’s) was bagged by RTM Nagpur University, silver medal by Shivaji University, Kolhapur and bronze medal by RGPV, Bhopal. The medals and trophies were awarded to the contestants by Dr. Anoop Swarup, Vice Chancellor, JLU Bhopal, Dr. Vivek Khare, Dean Academics, Dr. C.A. Gurudath, Dean Academics, Mr. Pankaj Das, Deputy Registrar, and Chief Arbiter, Mr. Kapil Saxena.

Gold Medal (Men’s) – Savitribai Phule University, Pune

·         Shantanu Mirashi

·         Sourav Sahoo

·         Nikhil Dixit

·         Ranveer Mohite

·         Vedant Pimpalkhare

Silver Medal (Men’s) – University of Mumbai

·         Sudarshan Vaikund

·         Harsh Mangesh Ghag

·         Rahul Rajan Pawar

·         Chirag Sarkar

·         Sanjeev Nair

Bronze Medal (Men’s) – RTM University, Nagpur

·         Shubham Lakudkar

·         Saurabh Lokhande

·         Pujjam Bansod

·         Mayur Shelke

·         Prasad Aurangabadkar

Gold Medal (Women’s) – RTM Nagpur University

·         Amruta Amate

·         Shweta Gole

·         Aditi Patel

·         R Nagalakshmi

Silver Medal (Women’s) – Shivaji University, Kolhapur

·         Pornima Upalavikar

·         Shweta Bhandare

·         Vaishnavi Akhade

·         Shruti Gurav

Bronze Medal (Women’s) – RGPV, Bhopal

·         Mohita Singh

·         Deeksha Kasture

·         Aditi Shrivastava

           Nupur Goyal