15-year-old Mukesh shines in chess online
Mukesh Paranthaman, 15, found form in his second online outing as a Fiji rep when he scored 4.5/7 in the previous session of Sharp vs Wise.
The competition featured players from Australia, New Zealand and Russia. Paranthaman won against Junior Master (JM) Keaden Govender (NZ Sharp), Benjamin Leong (AU Sharp), Grayson Po’e-Tofaeono and Mantra Bhatt (NZ Sharp). He drew with Alexander Coates (NZ Sharp) and finished 10th overall in a field of 41 players.
Fiji’s top-scoring Under-20 rep Rudr Prasad of Jai Narayan College put on a solid 5/7 to finish 5th overall. His 14-year-old younger sister Tanvi added 3/7 to her team score.
“Once more we are pleased to see excellent results from our under-20 reps,” said Fiji Chess Federation president Hilda Kunau.
“Mukesh and Rudr played well to make it into the Top 10 of the event, and this is without any formal coaching or training. Their zeal for chess speaks for itself.”
Fiji’s senior reps tallied 16 points to finish third overall behind Aussie Sharp who bagged 20 points while NZ Sharp won the event with 22.5 points.
Avinesh Nadan was the top-scorer from Fiji Wise with a 5/7, also coming 4th overall in the team championship’s individual standings. Candidate Master (CM) Taione Sikivou provided equal contribution at 5/7, while Goru Arvind added 4/7 with Ravikesh Prasad on 2/7 to complete the total score.
Other reps Jashnil Narayan and Raymond Nadan also had two wins each.
“Some notable wins from the last Sharp vs Wise event saw Fiji rep Avinesh Nadan beat Hunter Po’eTofaeono of NZ Sharp, Prasad winning against Alexander Pan and Tejasvi Kichavadi of NZ Sharp, Tanvi Prasad outwitting Maria Sharomova of Russia Sharp.