Organizational excellence at National Schools 2017

by Sagar Shah - 07/01/2017

National Schools is taking place from the 5th to the 7th of January 2017 in Nagpur. We made our way to the venue and witnessed some extra-ordinary scenes. 800 students had gathered to enjoy chess. At the same time the organizers put in all their efforts to ensure that participants and parents get all that they need at one place. We bring you exclusive pictures and stories from Nagpur and invite you to identify the fathers of the little ones in the thumbnail image.

Chess, Camaraderie and the difficulty of being a chess parent!

National Schools 2017 is huge! On 6th of January 2017, when I made my way to the Naivedyam Eastoria hall in Nagpur, little did I know that I would be able to see so many chess players and parents at one place. There are 800 players taking part in various age categories ranging from under-7 to under-17 and their parents and coaches who have accompanied them to the event.

One of the reasons why I never considered the National Schools to be a serious event is because of three rounds per day, and the games being unrated. Well, maybe my thinking wasn't entirely correct. First of all, the students are motivated to play this tournament as the school would be mighty pleased if you come back with a medal. For ambitious players this would mean getting leaves easily when it comes to more important events. For many other kids who have traveled all the way to Nagpur from different parts of India, this is a unique opportunity to make new friends, interact with people and engage in the mind game.

There are some issues of Maharashtra Chess Association (MCA) due to which the Adh-hoc committee has to welcome you!

The playing venue is located approximately 10 kilometres from railway station and I paid Rs.130 in the auto-rickshaw

The surroundings of the Naivedyam banquets

The role of parents is never easy. You have to sit and wait...

...You even have to ensure that your child goes well prepared to the game. Some practice on the board...

...while some work blindfold from the books!

Not to forget that sleep is extremely important!

And also the food!

Two such huge and spacious halls are used for the games to be played. One is for the under-7, 9 and 11 kids while the other is for the seniors.

ChessBase India is proud to provide high quality softwares as prizes for the students at this event. The winners in each category get ChessBase 14 and three Fritztrainers of their choice.

One of the most important spots in the tournament venue is the food court. Food helps the players to maintain their energy levels, and hence frequented by everyone.

The organizers have ensured that a separate zone for food is created

A huge variety of all sorts of food was available at reasonable prices

Different counters for different products ensured that there was no mad rush

ChessBase India's Niklesh Jain enjoys his upma!

While many of the players have made arrangements to stay outside the tournament hall, there are many who have booked rooms inside the Naivedyam complex and are staying in such well-furnished dormitories.

The arbiters have their work cut out! Mangesh Gambhire from Nashik (left) is ensuring that all the results are recorded correctly.

You can be sure that the tournament will be smoothly conducted if R. Anantharaman is the chief arbiter

"Oh my God! That's a mate." One of the reasons why you can see a lot of blunders is because of the "no increment" time control.

A lot of famous Indian chess players are here with their children. Ketan Boricha waits for his son Yohan to finish his game.

Pawan Dodeja with his wife and the entire Amravati gang! Pawan is father to two girls: Himal (third from right) and Loveleen (in Pawan's hand)

Akash Thakur gets his 6-year-old son Aarit ready for the game!

Junior Akash Thakur with Sauravh Kherdekar jr.!

Dilip Pagay (center), the chief organizer of this event must be congratulated for all the arrangements he has made. On the left is IM Chandrashekhar Gokhale, who is here with his son Rishabh.

Two ChessBase India workshops were held at the venue at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. by IM Sagar Shah and Niklesh Jain. They dealt with how to use the ChessBase Account and the basic features of ChessBase 14 for the parents. The workshops witnessed huge turnout and a lot of parents, coaches and players (whose games finished soon) were able to understand how technology can be better used to improve at chess.

One heart-warming incident happened towards the end of the day. The Gujarat team was celebrating the birthday of one of its players. As they were about to cut the cake, players from Madhya Pradesh joined in and they together celebrated the birthday! A very nice feeling of camaraderie and fellowship prevailed. This is exactly what the National Schools is all about!

Under-7 open Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	Sadbhav Rautela	IND	1155	6,0	0,0	6,0	22,0
2	2	Kiaan Agrawal	IND	1168	5,0	0,0	5,0	22,5
3	5	Adireddy Arjun	IND	1089	5,0	0,0	5,0	21,5
4	8	Shashindhar Kumar R	IND	1036	5,0	0,0	5,0	20,0
5	9	Mitul K H	IND	1016	5,0	0,0	5,0	19,0

Under-7 Girls Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo	Name	sex	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	K	rtg+/-
1	2	Kamalini Haradhana Nimban K	w	IND	1015	PON	6,0	0,0	6,0	20,0	20,5	20,50	40	0,0
2	3	Aggarwal Tashna	w	IND	0	UP	5,0	0,0	5,0	22,0	25,0	20,00
3	50	Shriyana S Mallya	w	IND	0	KAR	5,0	0,0	5,0	19,5	21,5	15,50
4	44	Saara Jain	w	IND	0	JHAR	5,0	0,0	5,0	19,0	21,0	15,00
5	49	Shriya Patil	w	IND	0	GOA	5,0	0,0	5,0	18,5	20,5	15,50
6	1	Luxshana B K	w	IND	1070	TN	5,0	0,0	5,0	17,5	18,0	14,00	40	0,0

Under-09 Open Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	Bagwe Gaurang	IND	1357	MAH	6,0	0,0	6,0	21,0
2	1	Ilamparthi A R	IND	1529	TN	5,5	0,0	5,0	20,0
3	2	Sreyas Payyappat	IND	1369	KER	5,0	0,0	5,0	22,0
4	10	Sriansh Das	IND	1258	ODI	5,0	0,0	5,0	21,5
5	5	Priansh Das	IND	1342	ODI	5,0	0,0	5,0	20,5

Under-9 Girls Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5	Anupam M Sreekumar	IND	1140	KER	5,5	0,0	5,0	22,0
2	8	Rout Yashita	IND	1112	ODI	5,0	0,0	5,0	20,0
3	10	Srilaxmi Kamat	IND	1095	GOA	5,0	0,0	5,0	19,5
4	2	Sruthi Naya B	IND	1194	TN	5,0	0,0	5,0	19,0
5	4	Sani Deshpande	IND	1160	MAH	5,0	0,0	5,0	16,5

Under-11 Open Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	CM	Gukesh D	IND	2236	6,0	0,0	6,0	20,0
2	2	CM	Nikhil Magizhnan	IND	2142	5,5	0,0	5,0	20,0
3	3		Sreeshwan Maralakshikari	IND	1968	5,0	0,0	5,0	21,5
4	4	CM	Dev Shah	IND	1778	5,0	0,0	5,0	20,5
5	86		Rishiraj P	IND	0	5,0	0,0	5,0	19,5

Under-11 Girls Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5		Boramanikar Tanisha S	IND	1393	5,5	0,0	5,0	20,0
2	9		Ananya Arumbakkam	IND	1292	5,0	0,0	5,0	21,5
3	28		Meenatchi Rajam V	IND	1095	5,0	0,0	5,0	20,5
4	3	WCM	Wankhade Sanskruti	IND	1420	5,0	0,0	5,0	17,5
5	8		Kaamyaa Negi	IND	1331	5,0	0,0	4,0	20,0

Under-13 Open Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2		Mehta Naitik R	IND	1928	6,0	0,0	6,0	20,5
2	1	CM	Raja Rithvik R	IND	1991	5,5	0,5	5,0	22,5
3	12		Tarun V	IND	1548	5,5	0,5	5,0	20,0
4	15		Raghul Saro S	IND	1483	5,0	0,0	5,0	22,5
5	14		Rohnit G Amin	IND	1510	5,0	0,0	5,0	20,0

Under-13 Girls Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3		Bhagyashree Patil	IND	1735	MAH	5,5	0,0	5,0	22,0
2	5		Jain Nityata	IND	1671	MP	5,0	0,0	5,0	20,0
3	4	WCM	Dhyana Patel	IND	1695	GUJ	5,0	0,0	5,0	19,5
4	1	WCM	Mrudul Dehankar	IND	1923	MAH	5,0	0,0	4,0	23,0
5	2		Eesha Ajay Sarda	IND	1765	MAH	5,0	0,0	4,0	19,0

Under-15 Open Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	Shah Rishab	IND	1977	5,5	0,0	5,0	21,0
2	1	Shakthi Vishal J	IND	2042	5,0	0,0	5,0	18,5
3	6	Vaibhav Jayant Raut	IND	1877	5,0	0,0	4,0	22,0
4	9	Yash Dhoke	IND	1830	5,0	0,0	4,0	21,5
5	2	Tarun V Kanth	IND	1983	5,0	0,0	4,0	20,5

Under-15 girls Rank after Round 5

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	6	Parakh Niyati	IND	1569	5,0	0,0	5,0	12,5
2	3	Tejasvi M	IND	1706	4,0	0,0	4,0	13,0
3	2	Shah Rutvi	IND	1720	4,0	0,0	4,0	12,5
4	1	Sanskriti Goyal	IND	1839	3,5	0,0	3,0	14,5
5	11	Thakare Seeya	IND	1446	3,5	0,0	3,0	14,0

Under-17 Open Rank after Round 5

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	Harikrishnan.A.Ra	IND	2259	5,0	0,0	5,0	13,0
2	7	Patil Rohit R	IND	1674	4,0	1,0	4,0	14,5
3	3	Dhananjay S	IND	2183	4,0	0,0	4,0	13,0
4	5	Mahindrakar Indrajeet	IND	1925	3,5	0,0	3,0	11,5
5	4	Pruthu Deshpande	IND	2063	3,0	0,0	3,0	14,5

Under-17 Girls Rank after Round 5

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	Ananya Rishi Gupta	IND	1655	4,5	0,0	4,0	11,0
2	1	Pandey Srishti	IND	1829	3,5	0,0	3,0	12,0
3	8	Niharika Ch	IND	1355	3,0	0,0	3,0	13,5
4	6	Jegatha B	IND	1447	3,0	0,0	3,0	13,0
5	2	Rathi Dhanashree	IND	1707	3,0	0,0	3,0	11,5