MPL 51st National Junior (Under-19) Open and 36th National Junior (Under-19) Girls Chess Championship is being held at PYC Hindu Gymkhana, in the heart of Pune City; a total of 208 players will be playing in two categories of Open and Girls. 11 rounds will be played over the duration of 9 days. Inauguration Ceremony was held today at 10:15pm,the dais was graced by Chief Guest Mr. Navnath Furtade, Deputy Director of Sports Maharashtra; Mr. Siddharth Mayur, Working President of Maharashtra Chess Association; Mr. Sarang Lagu, Secretary of PYC Hindu Gymkhana; IA Debasish Barua, Chief Arbiter of the event; IA Purshottam Bhilare, Deputy Chief Arbiter; Mr. Niranjan Godbole, Secretary of Maharashtra Chess Association and Mr. Prakash Kunte, Vice-President of Pune District Chess Circle.
Bhagyashree Patil, this year’s National Under-17 Champion was felicitated by the Deputy Director of Sports Mr. Navnath Furtade, in his speech he encouraged the players to enjoy the tournament after which he officially commenced the tournament by playing a move on the board. Concluding the ceremony Mr.Niranjan Godbole expressed a vote of thanks.