PANAJI
Samarth Ghaisas emerged as the winner of a chess tournament organised by the Ponda Taluka Chess Association under the guidance of the Goa Chess Association for students participating in the Chess in School programme for the academic year 2025–26. The tournament was held at Swastik Vidyalay, Priol.
Nahush Gaude secured the second place, while Shreyash Naik finished third. Nihal Gaude, Vyom Kerkar and Bilva Kelkar secured the fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.
Certificates and prizes were presented to the winners by Sagar Sakordekar, President of the Ponda Taluka Chess Association; Sandesh Naik, Treasurer of the association; Jyoti Devasthali, Headmistress of Swastik Vidyalay; Milind Gaude, chess coach; Anand Kurtikar and Mahesh Khedekar, EC members of the Ponda Taluka Chess Association; Sudesh Paidarkar, Secretary of Sarvodaya Shiksha Mandal; and Pradeep Desai, Vice-President of Sarvodaya Shiksha Mandal.
