Swati, Soumya and Gomes start campaign with wins

Woman Grand Master Swati Ghate (LIC) made a bright start winning her first round match against Vaibhavi Jadhav of Maharashtra in the 42nd National Women's Challenger Chess Championship here today.
Two more WGMs, Soumya Swaminathan of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board and Mary Ann Gomes of West Bengal, also won their respective first round encounters
While Soumya overcame Jayashree P Sankpal of LIC, Gomes outwitted Maharashtra's Samiksha Patil in the tournament which is being conducted by the Maharashtra Chess Association (MCA) under the auspices of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and in association with the Thane District Chess Association (TDCA).

Maharashtra's Woman Fide Master Mitali Madhukar Patil picked up her first points by defeating Devi Naina (HP) while her state mate Aashna Makhija defeated Harshita Shukla of MP.
In other matches, Woman International Master Michelle Catherina P from Tamil Nadu prevailed over Goa's Sakshi Naik Gaonkar while Bodda Pratyusha of Andhra Pradesh, also a WIM, got the better of her state mate Jishitha D.
In an all-Goa contest, Swera Ana Braganza lost to WIM Ivana Maria Furtado.