47 Compete At Aurora Fundraiser Fighting Blindness In India

 

When Sriram Ashokkumar mentioned to his uncle that he thought a chess tournament could be more than just about chess, it sparked a chain of events leading to a wonderful outing August 20 in Aurora.

47 competed in a four-round, non-rated chess with all proceeds going to the Sankara Nethralaya Ophthalmic Mission. The Mission aims to eradicate blindness which it deems "the most painful human handicap".

Four players tied with 3.0 points in the adult / high school section with Indian Creek high schoolers Sean and Austin Insley, Alwyn Pang and Joe Zemgulys all in that score group.

Joe beat both brothers in early rounds, but fell to Alwyn in the final round.

In the Middle School section, Vishva Salem and Pranav Swaminathan took three wins into the final round before drawing head-to-head, finishing with 3.5/4.

The largest section, the 24-entrant elementary section saw Jonathan Lou (sp?) win all four games with a five-way tie for second place at 3.0/4 including Eden Pang, Aditya Prashanth, Ria Raj, Agilan Saminathan and Anshul Shetty.

Congrats to all the participants for helping to support a cause larger than just chess -- and a special thanks to Mikhail Korenman for acting as tournament director.

If you would like to support the Ophthamic Mission, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to be put in touch with the organizers.