PANAJI
Joshua Mark Telles and Vaishnavi Vijay Parab emerged champions in the Open and Girls categories respectively at the Goa State Under-17 Open and Girls Chess Championship-cum-Selection 2026, held at Hanuman Vidyalaya, Velus, Valpoi.
The championship was organised by the Sattari Taluka Chess Association in collaboration with the Valpoi Education Society, under the aegis of the Goa Chess Association.
Telles topped the Open standings with 5½ points, while Saras Summer Powar finished runner-up with five points. Sai Prabhakaran R and Gawas Rishit also scored five points each to finish third and fourth respectively.
In the Girls category, Parab claimed the title with an impressive 5½ points. Sawant Balkrishna Aaradhya finished second with five points, followed by Skyla Rodrigues in third. Terse Asmi Amit and Rodrigues Shinel completed the top five.
The top two finishers in both the Open and Girls categories will represent Goa at the National Under-17 Championship.
The other main prize winners in the Open category were Mayuresh Laxlabh Desai, Vihaan Tari, Shubh Vishnu Borkar, Aaryavrat Rasiket Naik Desai, Chaitanya Sushant Patil and Nathan Jess Cardozo.
In the Girls category, the main prize winners included Shreesha Sushant Vaz Ghadi, Franshella Janelly, Lyia Marysil Silveira, Krutika Aggarwal and Navya Narvekar.
Category prizes were also awarded across the Under-7, Under-9, Under-11, Under-13 and Under-15 Open and Girls sections.
A special felicitation was held for Sattari's Chinmay Gadgil, who became the first player from the taluka to earn a FIDE rating. Saima Gaonkar was also felicitated for becoming the first girl player from Sattari to achieve a FIDE rating.
The event was sponsored by Sattari Co-op Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Credit Society, Valpoi. International Arbiter Arvind Mhamal served as chief arbiter.
The prize distribution ceremony was attended by chief guest Premanand Hazare, along with Uday Sawant, Sadashiv Velingkar, Goa Chess Association secretary Ashesh Keni, Satyawan Harmalkar, Subhashchandra Gawas, Kalidas Harwalkar, Girish Gadgil, Somnath Gaonkar and other members of the Sattari Taluka Chess Association.
