GM Thejkumar M S joined the Prime Engage Jr. Chess Championship as chief guest in Mysuru on 4 October. Born in Mysuru in 1981, he became India’s 50th Grandmaster in 2017, at the age of 36, and is the first Grandmaster from Karnataka. He reached a rating of 2500 that year. For the young players at Nexus Centre City, that meant a Grandmaster from their own city was in the hall with them.
He came with his wife, Mrs. Jayashree M K, who is also our chess partner in Mysuru. The two of them handed over prizes to the winners, and we thank them both for being with us.
The hall at Nexus Centre City during play.
The field was also unusually wide. Of the 217 players, many came from different parts of Karnataka, and others travelled to Mysuru from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It made the day a gathering of the whole South, and it was a fine way to take the championship across the South.
Nexus Centre City, a mall of about 0.3 million square feet with 110 stores and more than 90 premium and international brands, was our venue partner. It was the third Nexus mall to host us this season, after Pune and Hyderabad, and we are grateful to the Nexus team for the space. Portronics was our gadget partner, YES Securities our financial literacy partner and Radio City our radio partner.
Category winners and runners-up with their trophies.
Players in Mysuru were divided into four age categories, Under 8, Under 10, Under 12 and Under 16, and the winner of each category goes through to the zonal round. Prize money of ₹29,000 for the city was shared among the top five players in each category, and all five received trophies. Every child who played received a medal and a digital certificate. The championship is not a rated event, so results do not affect anyone’s rating.
Trophies being presented at the championship backdrop.
Master Gahan C D won Under 8, with Master Yuvannayak B as runner-up. In Under 10 the champion was Master Raghava Simha T A, with Master Jiyaansh Yadav second. Master Ar Saisharvesh took Under 12, with Master Divith U V as runner-up, and Master Vihaan Venu Gopal won Under 16, with Master Saathvik Vishwanath as runner-up.
More city reports from this season: Jabalpur, Kochi, Delhi, Kolkata, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Gwalior, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kolhapur.
Photos and updates from every city are shared on Instagram at @chess_with_primeengage.
- prime engage junior chess championship
- mysuru
- nexus centre city
