Maharashtra Chess League

Grandmaster Dhopade to play for Jalgaon Battlers in MCL
Suhas Nayse | TNN | May 24, 2016, 09.56 AM IST

NAGPUR: Vidarbha’s first Grandmaster Swapnil Dhopade will represent Jalgaon Battlers in the fourth edition of the Maharashtra Chess League (MCL) which will be held from June 11 to 15 in Pune.

The 25-year-old Dhopade was bought by Jalgaon franchise, which was owned by Jain Irrigation, for an impressive price of Rs 1,20,000. Last year, Amravati-based Dhopade had represented Pune Attackers team.

Vidarbha’s two more players also got picked in the auction which was attended by former world champion V Anand in Pune on Saturday. While Akash Thakur of Nagpur will represent Pune Navigators, Amravati’s Pawan Dodeja will don the Ahmednagar Checkers colours. Both got a basic price of Rs 10,000.

“I am very happy with the amount I got. It’s quite a good one. I will give my best to justify my value so that the owners of the team are satisfied with my performance. I will get a chance to play with quality players and that will certainly help me in the future,” said Dhopade, an employee of Railways.

“We all have to report a day before the tournament starts in Pune. We will have a team meeting in which we will plan our strategy for the league. The focus will be on having a good team spirit rather than individual glory. The target will be to win the tournament and support each other,” said Dhopade, who has been in brilliant form this season.
Experienced GM K Sasikiran received the highest bid of Rs 1.70 lakh from Ahmednagar Checkers. In the women’s section, Orissa girl Padmini Rout and Pune’s Eesha Karavade pipped GM Koneru Humpy to emerge as the costliest players.
Padmini was bought for Rs 1.61 lakh by Thane Combatants and Eesha for Rs 1.58 lakh by Pune True Masters. Humpy was sold for Rs 1.38 lakh to Jalgaon Battlers.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Chess Admin May 24, 2016 Daily News, General News 1 Comment
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