Prathamesh defeated Tanmay Rajpathak (2) in the third and last round of the opening day. Joining him on top was another aspiring chess wizard Eesha Karavde, Panagha Magal, Abhijit Patil and Amruta Mokal. Eesha outplayed Kaustub Patwardhan in the third round, Panagha Magal beat Amay Pokshe, Abhijit downed Akshayraj Kore and Amruta overcame Chaitanya Shivde.

In the under-10 section, three players -- Archit Mokashi, Salil Nitsure and Devangi Patwardhan -- maintained their winning run to lead with three points each. A total of 90 players are participating in the three-day meet, with three rounds per day.

Results: (III Round): Under-10: Somya (3) bt Gaurav Konde (2); Tejas Konde Deshmukh (2) lost to Archit Mokashi (3); Salil Nitsure (3) bt Chinmay Kulkarni (2); Devangi Patankar (3) bt Shruti Ratnakar (2). Under-16: Prathamesh Mokal (3) bt Tanmay Rajpathak (2); Eesha Karavde (3) bt Kaushtub Patwardhan (2); Panagha Magal (3) bt Ameya Pokshe (2); Abhijit Patil (3) bt Ashayraj Kore (2); Amruta Mokal (3) bt Chaitanya Shivde (2).