Checkmate before you know it

All sports are played from the neck up but chess is the hallmark of intelligence. The logic is simple: Much like the demands of life, chess is a calculation of one’s every move. It involves taking planned risks and even sacrifices at times, all for the final goal.

Apeejay School, Nerul has always encouraged all sports in their campus. But the Nerul Apeejayites have been winning in the world of black and white squares of late.

They recently won the first prize in the Inter School Chess Competition organised by the Nerul Gymkhana Club. The competition saw a whooping participation from 22 schools in Navi Mumbai. The framework saw the event divided into age wise categories: Under 7, Under 11 and Under 14 age groups. Apeejay School Nerul won the overall championship with students securing the maximum points across all categories in the competition.

The Under 11 roster included class 4 student S. Sharad Sai, class 3 student Hiya Patil, Ishaan Biswas from Class 5 and Natalie Nicklaus from class 3. Natalie Nicklaus won the second position in the U-11 category. The Under 14 roster on the other hand included Abhinav Mishra of class 7, Amartya Nayak and Anvay Hinge of class 8 and Ujjwal Kothari of class 6.

Speaking about her experience at the tournament Natalie mentioned, “I was very nervous initially as I was a 9 year old competing in the U-11 category. There were a total of 5 rounds with 15 minutes on the clock. In my first round, I got a very tough opponent and so was running out of time. But I kept calm, concentrated on the game and managed to win. By the second round I gained in confidence and played smoothly and won again. However, in the third round I was slightly over confident which led me to draw the game. So, I paid full attention in the last two rounds and won the final two games.” 

She further added, “During the prize distribution ceremony I was so happy that I had managed to earn 4.5 points and remained undefeated.  I secured the second prize in U-11 boys and finished first amongst girls. I was more happy as our school secured the first prize in the tournament. I was thrilled to click pictures with the trophies.”