Local students place at Maryland chess tournament

Worcester Prep Grade 5 students Pranay Sanwal of Lewes and Ayush Batra of Rehoboth Beach were honored for their prowess at the game of chess at the Maryland Scholastic Chess Association Tournament in Baltimore. The boys from the Worcester Preparatory School Chess Club competed against young chess enthusiasts from all over the region; approximately 250 students took part in the event.

Sanwal placed first in the Elementary Intermediate Division with a score of 4.5 in five games. Batra won three of his five matches to place 13th in the Elementary Novice Division. Both boys qualified for trophies. Division placements are determined by previous scores in chess matches. Both boys will move up in their rankings because of their excellent work at the Baltimore tournament.

When asked about their experience at the tournament, the boys agreed it was exciting, but takes a long time to complete. “It was my first trophy ever,” said Batra. “That makes it really nice.” Sanwal said, “I was very happy to get first place and win the huge trophy. It was a very tough competition. Two of my five games were easy, but the remaining ones were tough and lasted very long.”

Pranay Sanwal is the son of Drs. Pankaj and Vibha Sanwal of Lewes. Ayush is the son of Drs. Vikas Batra and Reetu Singh of Rehoboth Beach.