Mind Spark

Sparks of success
Sushma Barvathaya

Children of all age groups, from tiny tots to teenagers, had a field day at Mind Spark— a day long rapid chess tournament held recently at Presidency School, Kelarai. In all 260 players representing 50 schools participated, including many Federation International des Echess (FIDE) rated players.

Smart start

It all began when Derik Pinto, administrator, Derik’s Chess School declared ‘Mind Spark’ open by making the first chess move that was responded to with a counter move by host school’s chess champion Daniel D’Souza.

The tournament under rapid time control and in Swiss league format was conducted in six categories namely under nine, under 12 and under 16 (boys and girls). Each game, held in seven rounds in the Swiss league system with a timing of 20 minutes went on for over six hours across various age groups.

All the games were close with many winning joint spots. Sharada Vidyalaya, Mangalore, were declared the overall champions with seven students of the school bagging prizes.

The schools from the rural belt, Sri Venkatramana School (SVS), Bantwal and Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara (SDM) School, Ujire, won the first and second runners-up with three wins and one first prize, respectively.

Here is the full article.