Ex-Olympiad Rep Prashil Prakash revived himself with some glorious combinations of play in the 2024 Vodafone Fiji Rapid Chess tournament at The University of Fiji in Lautoka in the weekend.
Prakash came-off as an unbeaten champion with a score of 6/7 that included draws with Peter Ricardo of Swami Vivekananda College and William Robert Raymond Bennion.
The next three winners were William Bennion, Christian Gonzalez and Krish Sinha, who were all tied at 5.5/7 to come second, third and fourth. Rajnesh Sant secured the fifth prize at 4/7.
The Women’s Division was won by Latileta Masau of Dudley Intermediate School with 4/7, while Useli Herath of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Primary School came second with 3.5/7. Debutante Veronica Eremina, Nishita Sinha of Swami Vivekananda College and Mercy Gogoi secured third, fourth and fifth place with an equal score of 3/7.
“Prashil is one of our strongest chess players from the Western Division who represented Fiji in the 44th World Chess Olympiad in Chennai two years ago,” states General Secretary Goru Arvind. “The tournament was filled with Primary and Secondary School competitors from the West, and we can see new chess players in every tournament,” said Fiji Chess Federation General Secretary Goru Arvind.
Upcoming talent Lionel Vaurasi of Yat Sen Primary School propelled himself above much older competitors to win the Under-20 Division at a solid 5.5/7, ahead of second and third placed Shivnesh Dutt and Raj Johan who tallied 5/7 each.
Peter Ricardo and John Taake of Swami Vivekananda College came fourth and fifth with an equal score of 4.5/7.
The Under-14 Division was topped by Abhiru Herath of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Primary School and Ricardo Luis Iv Corpuz of Gurukul Primary School at first and second place with 5/7 each. Yash Yuvaan Prasad of Deenbandhoo Memorial Primary School continued his improving from by coming third at 4.5/7. Paul Anthony Corpuz of Lautoka Zhong Hua Primary School and Yajat Singh secured fourth and fifth place with 4/7.
“We are looking to host the next Vodafone Fiji tournament in Suva about two weekends from now,” said Arvind.
“The newly elected Executive Board for Fiji Chess Federation will also meet this month to finalize some key logistics for the 45th World Chess Olympiad which is officially on-track for Hungary in September 2024, and line-ups will be made public in upcoming weeks.”
The Best Newcomer (Female) Award was won by Veronica Eremina for scoring 3 solid wins in her first tournament, while Jack Li won the Lucky Draw Prize for Online Registration via Google Forms in the official Fiji Chess Federation Facebook page.
Full details of the next Vodafone Fiji event will be announced in upcoming days.
