The competition had received a heavy response of 214 players Among them are 68 schoolboys and 22 schoolgirls seeking promotion to the senior ranks. Due to shortage of sitting accommodation, the 214 players are divided into two groups to play on alternate days in the preliminary session. After six rounds, top players will be picked for a play-off.

Last night in Group B, top seed Onkar Upasani of CHM College (Ulhasnagar) went down to Sanjiv Maliyakal, a sixth standard student of St Stanislaus (Bandra).

Akshat Kundalia of Garodia school (Ghatkopar), Nikhil Apte from a Virar school, Parth Agrawal, Keshav Bhat and Sanjay Goyal defeated their senior rivals Vijay Darjee, Chirag Sheth, Savita Singh Angad, Kunal Shah and Abhijit Deshpande, respectively. Ashutosh Thipsay and hiscousin Swarali Thipsay bt Smit Malkan and Nirali Shah, also school students. Faisal Patel had no such luck, as he ran into top seed Sachin Bansode.