Kutwal prevails

MUMBAI, July 18: The Supe-Baramati lad, Shashikant Kutwal, garnered an overall 7.5 pts to emerge champion of the Maharashtra State Selection Chess Tournament conducted by the Bombay Chess Association at the Andheri Sports Complex. In the ninth round, Kutwal drew with Ramkrishna Kashelkar in 11 moves.

In other final round matches, Pallavi Shah (Kolhapur) outwitted Prathmesh Mokal (Pune) in 26 moves while Vinod Kumar Solanky overcame Prakash Date in 18 moves. All the above winners will represent Maharashtra in the forthcoming National B.

Shah, Kashelkar and Solanky also scored 7.5 pts but were ranked second, third and fourth respectively on their progressive scores.

The other rank-holders from fifth to 10th will be allowed direct entry into next years state selection without having to play their respective Divisions. They are: Pankaj Joshi (Nagpur), 7 pts; Hemant Mandhare (Satara), 7 pts; Prakash Date (Mumbai), 6.5 pts; Salil Surendran (Mumbai), 6.5 pts; D Ravishankar (Mumbai), 6.5 pts; Prasad Ghate (Mumbai), 6.5 pts.