KATHMANDU: Deep Jyoti School won the team championship of the fourth Nationwide Inter-school Annapurna Friendly Open Chess Tournament organised by Annapurna Higher Secondary School here today.

Deep Jyoti accumulated a total of 21 points to claim the championship, while the host school Annapurna came second with eight points followed by Bhanu Bhakta School, who earned five points. The youngest player of the tournament, five-year-old Bidit Pratap Singh of Moral Academy was honoured with the Rising Player award.

Shanta Thapa of Deep Jyoti defeated Sushila Gurung of Shree Narayan School in the fifth and final round match to claim the Above-14 girls’ section title with five points. Binita Kapali of Annapurna and Sangita Jaiswal of Deep Jyoti finished with four points each but the former came second on better progressive points. Binita beat fellow school-mate Sweta Rauniyar in the fifth round,

while Sangita defeated Bibika Pandit of Bhanu Bhakta.

In boys’ section, Prashanta Bhashima of Tyoda School, Rabin Sunuwar of Green Land and Nabin Jaiswal of Deep Jyoti claimed the top three spots respectively. Bhashima beat Himal Lama of Mahankal to accumulate 4.5 points, while Rabin registered a win over Arun Lama of Bhanu Bhakta and Nabin defeated Sabin Maharjan of Annapurna.

Rupesh Jaiswal of Deep Jyoti, Sushil Chaudhary of Nightingale and Sri Krishna Prajapati of Khopring came first, second and third respectively in the Under-14 boys’ competition. Matina Kusi of Khopring won the U-14 girls’ section title, ahead Tara Ghale and Bishakha Jaiswal of Deep Jyoti.

In the U-12 girls’ section, Purnima Jaiswal and Bina Jaiswal of Deep Jyoti finished first and second, while Asmita Panthi of Annapurna came third. In boys’ section, Bijay Dangol of Annapurna, Prashanta Thapa of Deep Jyoti and Roshna Poudel of Annapurna claimed the top three spots.

Ipran Shrestha of Deep Jyoti, Chandra Gurung of Shree Narayan and Sanjay Raj Aryal won the top three positions in the U-10 boys’ category. Bhanu Bhakta duo Susmita Bhushal and Lisa Maharjan came first and second, while Remi Maharjan of Annapurna finished third in the U-10 girls’ section.

In all, 132 students from 29 schools took part in the tournament played under Swiss League format over five rounds. President of Nepal Chess Association Rajesh Hari Joshi and Principal of Annapurna School Chandra Prakash Rajbhandari gave away prizes to the winners.