Nagpur: The West Zone Championship for the visually challenged organised by the All India Chess Federation for Blind (AICFB) in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, Maharashtra (Vidarbha, Nagpur) and the All Marathi Chess Association for Visually Challenged (AMVCC) commenced at the MLA Hostel, Civil Lines, Nagpur, on Thursday.
The championship has attracted participants from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, each bringing their unique skills and competitive spirit to the fore.
In the opening round, Ashok Kumbhar surprised third seed Sanjay Kavlekar. After causing the only upset of the tournament Kumbhar failed to keep the momentum going and lost his second round contest to Roshan Diware. At the end of the second round of the nine-round tournament a total of 19 players won both the games they played to share the lead with a full two points.
Earlier, the tournament organized by All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) was inaugurated by ENT Specialist Ashish Biswal. On the occasion KK Barat, Secretary of the Nagpur District Chess Association (NDCA) and other AICFB members were also present.
RESULTS (ROUND 2)
Shobha Lokhande (1) lost to Darpan Inani (2), Aryan Joshi (2) bt Ashok Parekh (1), Swapanil Shah (2) bt Mohan Pathode (1), Ganesh Tamkar (1) lost to Darshankumar Pandya (2) Atul Kakade (2) bt Pragati Tupe (1).
