The Vodafone Fiji May Weekender competition of 2024 saw Yash Krishen Maharaj of The University of the South Pacific emerge victorious with a strong 8.5/9 score, only tying with Candidate Master (CM) Rudr Prasad, who scored 7.5/9 in second place.

FIDE Arena With a score of 7/9, CM Prashil Prakash placed third, followed by CM Goru Arvind and Ashwin Singh, who each scored 6/9 to place fourth and fifth.

Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) Tanvi Prasad of Jai Narayan College defeated WCM Gloria Sukhu, who finished in second place with 6/9, to win the Female Division with 6.5/9. Makayla Sukhu of Suva Grammar High School finished in fifth place with 4.5/9, followed by WCM Cydel Terubea in third place with 5.5/9 and Eshal Bari in fourth place with 5/9.

General Secretary Goru Arvind says, “It was three days of intense chess under thirty minutes plus thirty seconds per move.” “Several Primary and Secondary School students showcased excellent analytical skills, and we had at least 6 newcomers in a pool of 47 participants.”

Future stars S M D N Herath from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Primary School and Rajatha Weerasekara from Jai Narayan College notched up excellent scores of 6/9 to take first and second place in the Under-20 Division. Having received identical scores of 5.5/9, Aarush Ahalawat from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School, Kinura Herath from Jai Narayan College, and Brent Newton from Marist Brother’s High School placed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Primary School’s Yajas Sharma won the Under-14 Division with a score of 5.5/9. With 5/9 apiece, Yash Prasad of Lautoka Central Primary School, Abhiru Herath of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Primary School, and Lionel Vaurasi of Yat Sen Primary School took second, third, and fourth place.

With 4.5 out of 9, Nidish Hettiwatta from Nehru Memorial Primary School placed fifth.
“Primary School students winning both the Under-20 and Under-14 Divisions speaks a lot about how chess touches Fiji’s youngest minds,” says Goru Arvind.

“It meets our goal of strengthening the next generation of athletes from a young age so that Fiji reaches greater heights in many years to come.”

Daniel Min of Yat Sen Secondary School won the Best Upset Award for defeating Calvin Ong (1630), while Yanick Khatri of Yat Sen Primary School defeated Lionel Vaurasi (1405), both of whom were unrated players.

Issa Marau of Yat Sen Secondary School, Shrey Pandey of Xavier College from Ba, Keshav Singh of DAV High School, and Blake-Lee Jamnadas of Kids First Primary School were also given Best Newcomer Male Awards by the Fiji Chess Federation for their outstanding performance in their first local chess tournaments.

Rajvi Khatri of Jai Narayan College and Shyla Pandey of Arya Kanya Pathshala Primary School from Ba were the winners of the Best Newcomer Female Awards.

Kids First Primary School student Blake-Lee Jamnadas won the Lucky Draw Online award.

The second part of June 2024 is the tentative date for Vodafone Fiji’s next Rapid Chess event; more details will be determined in the coming days.