Mauritius Chess Federation

A new place will be available for chess lovers in the North of the Island as from this Saturday 29th August. Mrs Diane Benaich whose 3 kids Jules, Junon and Louve are active members of the MCF since their relocation to Mauritius from Réunion Island, has graciously put the space outside of their new shop at Place du Manguier, Quartier les Serres, Mapou Labourdonnais, at the disposal of chess players from 9.00 to 12.00 a.m on Saturdays.
A few tables and chess sets will be available to play training games and meet players from the North and surrounding areas. The MCF support this initiative and encourage its members to take advantage of this new playing site.

The Gymkhana Rapid Championship 2026 which was held yesterday, lived up to its billing as the strongest tournament of the year. Almost all the top players of the island were present and they competed ferociously in all the 6 rounds. The play was of a very high level and in the end Stefan Lee Luen Mang emerged as the winner as he pipped Bhavish Ramtale on tie-break after they both finished on 5.5 points out of 6 games. Kovid Burthun the upcoming University of Mauritius youngster who has already qualified to this year's Masters Finals, was the front runner as he reeled off 5 straight wins in the first 5 rounds. In the last round he faced Stefan Lee Luen Mang, who will represent Mauritius on Board 1 at the forthcoming Samarkand Chess Olympiad (Uzbekistan) in 3 weeks time. They played a tense game, Kovid blundered a knight but fought back to reach an endgame where he had King and Queen versus Stefan Lee King, Queen and Knight. The drawing chances were high but Kovid failed to defend well this inferior position and Stefan crash through with a winning attack using his last 3 pieces in perfect coordination . Bhavish Ramtale beat Rayen Sawmynaden in a Knight versus Bishop endgame to take on the runner-up place in this hard fought tournament.
Sadie Gabrielle Ravelomanantsoa a 13 year old girl from Madagascar took first place in the Women category ahead of Chethanah Andhin, our Women Board 1 player at the Samarkand Olympiad.
In the U18 Boys category , Hrishav Emrit continued his rich vein of form by taking 1st place ahead of another promising youngster Thavanesh Baloonuck. The U18 Girls category was won by Samaira Tulsidas who edged Sehaj Kaur Chopra on tie-break.
In the U14 Boys category, upcoming youngster Aarav Gungah took the title ahead of newcomer Ramaraj Veeraragoo.
Finally in the U14 Girls category Khilli Meenowa finished ahead of Louve Benaich.
The tournament Prize Giving ceremony was graced by the presence of his Excellence Dharambeer Gokhool, President of the Republic of Mauritius,who praised the good work done by the MCF especially towards our youth and in bringing this strategic game in schools across the island.
Mr Leckraj Beenesreesingh President of the Gymkhana club Vacoas spoke about his wish to see a stronger collaboration between the MCF and the Gymkhana club next year.
Randhir Mungra represented the SWAN group, MCF general sponsor for the Year 2026.
Standings
https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1468721.aspx?lan=1&art=1&SNode=S0

Chess report in 5-Plus newspaper today by their chess correspondent Qadeer Hoybun.

The Gymkhana Rapid Championship 2026 is in full swing this morning at the Gymkhana club Vacoas as nearly a hundred players battled over the 64 squares to crown the best Rapid players in the Open, U18 and U14 categories. It is heart warming for the MCF to see the enthusiasm of the Juniors towards this competition as they are not scared to cross swords with the senior players.

96 players will compete in the Gymkhana Rapid Championship 2026 tomorrow 23rd August 2026.
The first Round Pairings can be found at the following link

https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1468721.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=1&SNode=S0
Schedule of the tournament
Rd 1-9.30
Rd 2-10.20
Rd 3-11.10
Lunch Break 12.00-12.40
Rd 4-12.40
Rd 5-13.30
Rd 6-14.20
Prize Giving-15.30
His Excellency Dharambeer Gokhool President of the Republic of Mauritius and the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Deven Nagalingum will attend the Prize Giving Ceremony.
The Gymkhana Rapid Championship 2026 is proudly sponsored by the Gymkhana club Vacoas and SWAN group, MCF general sponsor for 2026.

A hectic chess week started this Tuesday 18th August 2026 at the Gymkhana club Vacoas, with a press conference covering the forthcoming Gymkhana Rapid Championship 2026 scheduled for this Sunday 23rd August. The Gymkhana club Vacoas was represented by its President Leckraj Beenesreesingh, Secretary Aline Wong, Tennis Captain Sanjay Saddul and member Ganesha Singaravelloo. The MCF President Hurrynarain Bhowany, Vice-president Patrick Li Ying and Secretary Koomaren Bhowany expressed their satisfaction and gratitude with the support of the Gymkhana club Vacoas towards the MCF these last 6 years. Newly elected Gymkhana Secretary Aline Wong, well known business woman in the Textile sector, suggested to broaden the collaboration of the MCF with the 2500 members of this iconic institution through regular chess initiation sessions.
A distinguished visitor present was, Bharat Singh Chauhan current Chairman of the Commonwealth Chess Association, Chairman of the FIDE Advisory board, Deputy President of the Asian Chess Federation and tournament Director of the 2022 Chennai Chess Olympiad (India). Our high profile chess visitor paid a visit to the Honorable Minister of Youth and Sports Deven Nagalingum and to His Excellency Dharambeer Gokhool the President of the Republic of Mauritius. He gifted to the President a magnificent Mahabharata chess set, a limited edition of only 100 such chess sets to be produced by Paramount Chess.
Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan 3-day visit centered on exploring the possibility of Mauritius hosting the 2027 Commonwealth Chess Championship. He put forward the factors that could ensure that this event could be a success for the country.
Mauritius is a well known touristic beach destination that is on the bucket list of many international Travellers and combining a beach vacation with a Fide rated chess tournament holds a great appeal to many chess players worldwide. Mauritius has direct flights with many Commonwealth countries namely the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Australia, India and Malaysia, not counting having Emirates and Turkish Airlines connecting other Commonwealth countries through their Dubai and Istanbul hubs.
Most Commonwealth countries can enter Mauritius visa-free which avoid hassles and costs to the trip. We can expect significant participation from India, South Africa, Kenya, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and other southern African countries.
Holding the event in Mauritius will provide local players with an incredible opportunity to attend an international chess tournament without having to pay expensive flight tickets and accommodation costs if they had to play in overseas tournaments.
Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan also pointed to the significant boost such an event can have for our tourism industry, with expectation of 200-300 overseas players and accompanying persons from around 30-35 countries, which could bring 1,000 chess tourists to the island for an 8-Day event. The Minister of Youth and Sports have taken good note of these points and will set up a committee with his officers and MCF officials to discuss the Commonwealth project.

In L'express newspaper today a report by their chess correspondent Stephane Benoit.

MCF Junior members who are interested to take part in the Commonwealth School Championship 2026 scheduled from 4th to 12th October 2026 in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) , are requested to contact the Federation for more details on the event. Official players in some Age categories (U7, U9, U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19) one boy and one girl in each category nominated by the MCF may get free board and lodging, but flight tickets and entry fees are on their own expense.

The Mauritius Chess Federation wish to inform our members and the Chess community that Registration to the Gymkhana National Rapid Championship 2026 is closed after we have reached 90 entries less than a week after the advert of the tournament was posted on our page. The MCF thanks the players for the tremendous support and interest to our events. Eight of the ten members of our Olympiad teams bound for Samarkand are in the field,and there are 5 titled players CM Devarajan Chinasamy, CM Benitot Ah Kye, CM Hoolan Naipal, WCM Chethanah Andhin and WCM Aamirah Beekhy in the tournament, as well as 41 FIDE rated players .
Juniors make up more than 40% of entries and vindicate MCF policy to invest in youth to grow our membership.
Players who wish to enter the tournament can contact the MCF and be put on stand-by mode in case there are late withdrawals.
Players List
https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1468721.aspx?lan=1&SNode=S0