Mumbai City’s Myrah Suchdev wins girls Under-6 chess crown

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai: Myrah Suchdev, of Mumbai City emerged champion, winning the Girl’s Under-6 crown in the prestigious Maharashtra State Schools Chess Championship 2019, which concluded in Aurangabad recently. The young chess player Myrah, a student of Cathedral & John Connon School (Fort), completed the eight rounds with a commendable score of 6.5 points to clinch the top honours.

Vedika Pal of Nagpur, Janhavi Gore of Mumbai Suburban and Prachi Patil of Kolhapur, all finished with an identical tally of 6 points. However, Vedika and Janhavi, both with a better tie-break score were placed second and third respectively. Mishka Mehta also of Mumbai City finished in fifth position with a score of 5.5 points.

Myrah, who trains with the South Mumbai Chess Academy, played valiantly and tactically to better the field of 29 competitors from across Maharashtra. She had just one blemish, losing to Vedika in the fifth round and dropped a point when she was held to a draw by Mishka in the seventh round.

Myrah’s mother Ritu Suchdev was ecstatic about the success. “Myrah has worked hard preparing for this championship and the efforts she has put in has paid off. I’m thankful to the coach Veeresh Sir for spending long hours during the training sessions which has resulted in this victory,” Ritu Suchdev said.

Meanwhile, SMCA coach and FIDE Master Balaji Guttula said, “Myrah is a very talented girl who has the potential and talent to become a formidable force in women’s chess.  However, she still has to work harder on her game as she is capable of winning more laurels.”

Myrah will now represent Maharashtra in the upcoming National Schools Chess Championships next month.