Rotary Club of Pune Central Sponsored the Vignaharta Rapid Chess Tournament, organized by the Rajesh Oza Chess Academy (ROCA), on Sunday, the 24th of September 2023. Over 390 participants took part in four age groups – U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, and the ‘Open’ category. It was heartening to see so many enthusiastic children with their doting parents at the venue well before the reporting time of 8.30 am, despite the heavy downpour. Team ROCA headed by Rajesh Oza, a visually challenged international level chess player, his wife Mrs Bharti Oza and a host of volunteers had made all the preparations for the tournament to start on time. Rtn Rahul Sahai, a new member of RCPC, and Mr. Jayant Gokhale, an Internationally renowned chess player were the Chief Guests at the Inaugural Function, and made the ceremonial first moves. This was followed by seven hectic rounds of serious chess through the day, lasting till 5 pm. There were ups and downs, smiling faces, as well as faces with disappointment writ large on them, as the young players exited the hall where the matches were being played to their parents seated in the adjacent hall. International Arbitrator Mr. Nitin Shenvi, was the Chief Arbitrator and was hard at work throughout the day tabulating the results, preparing the draws for each round, and ensuring that the matches were played fairly and in the true spirit of the game. After playing hard the whole day, expectations were high as the children awaited the results and the Prizes. Rtn Shital Shah, District Governor Elect R.I.D. 3131 was the Chief Guest, and was assisted by Rtn IPP Uday Dharmadhikari, Rtn PE Brig PKM Raja, Mr. Rajendra Konde, Secretary Pune District Chess Association, Mr. Rajesh Oza and yours truly in distributing the 60+ Trophies, Medals and Cash Prizes to the winners, runners-up, and players ranked up to 10 in each category. All participants under the age of 6 were given special medals for participation. Rtn Shital Shah called all the children under the age of 8 to the stage when asked to address the audience, and became an instant hit amongst them all. Rtn Delshad Karanjia, R’Ann Geetu Sahai and R’Ann Dipti were part of the RCPC contingent. The event, a youth empowerment activity, achieved all its aims – helping the children in improving their power of concentration, logical reasoning and competitiveness, and above all, keeping them away from social media addiction.