Sikivou wins national chess championship

CANDIDATE Master (CM) Taione Sikivou had to dig deep to fight off the challenges and win the 2022 Vodafone Fiji National Chess Championship at the Fiji Olympic House in Suva yesterday.

Sikivou recorded an unbeaten run of five wins and two draws with siblings Tanvi Prasad and Rudr Prasad with a score of 6/7 - the same score as CM Manoj Kumar who finished second after a loss to the overall winner.

Yash Maharaj, CM Goru Arvind and 17-yearold Rudr Prasad of Jai Narayan College finished third, fourth and fifth respectively with 5/7.

Tanvi Prasad, 16, of Jai Narayan College won the Women’s National Chess Championship title by tie-break over Jacquelyn Masilomani with 4/7. Anisha Eshal Bari finished third with 3.5/7 in her first chess tournament.

Newcomer Zayne Elmond Keshwan impressed in his maiden tournament by winning the Secondary School’s Division with 4/7 via tie-break over Ayush Chand of Jai Nayaran College and Ryan Kumar. As a result, Keshwan was given the Best Beginner Award.

The Primary School’s Division was won by Arnav Lal of Deenbandhoo Primary School with 3.5/7 while Anush Shay Chand of Gospel Primary School and eight-year-old Yash Yuvaan Prasad of Deenbandhoo Primary School secured the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.

The prizegiving ceremony was graced by Vodafone Fiji head of recharge and distribution Nilesh Kumar after four days of intense chess.

The event was administered by FIDE National Arbiter William Bennion.

“Fiji Chess Federation and all our players are thankful to Vodafone Fiji for partnering with our team for the 2022 National Chess Championship which helped us to select our 2023 Oceania Zonal reps in Australia from 23-28 January,” stated general secretary Goru Arvind.

“The open and women’s national champions have qualified to represent Fiji against some of the best chess players from Australia, New Zealand and smaller Pacific Island Countries.”