Coimbatore: R. Raja Rithvik of Telangana and K. Priyanka of AICF took home the open and girls’ titles respectively in the Dr. N. Mahalingam 28th National under-17 chess championship at the Kumaraguru College of Technology (KCT) here on Wednesday.
It is the maiden national title for Priyanka. The 16-year-old from Coimbatore drew the final round with Tejaswini Sagar of Gujarat in a queen and pawn endgame for the top honour.
“I am so thrilled. I have been trying for one for the past seven years and have finally succeeded. I am all the more happy as it came in front of my home crowd. I dedicate this title to the KCT management for supporting me in a big way,” said Priyanka.
Rithvik, on the other hand, scored a facile win over Tarun V. Kanth for the title in the open class.
M. Manickam, President of the State chess association gave away the prizes.
Important results (final round, TN unless specified):
Open: Erigasi Arjun (Tel) 8.5 drew with Nitish Belurkar (Goa) 8; R. Raja Rithvik (Tel) 9 bt Tarun V. Kanth (7.5); Mitrabha Guha (WB) 8.5 bt Manu David Suthandram (7); Jeet Jain (Guj) 7.5 drew with V.S. Rathanvel (8); Saurabh Anand (Bih) 8 bt Nithin Babu (Ker) 7; R. Sibi Visal (7.5) drew with S. Deota Snehil (Kar) 7.5; Pruthu Deshpande (Mah) 7 drew with Manish Anto Cristiano (7.5); M. Barath Kalyan (7.5) bt S. Dhananjay (Chatt) 6.5; L. Srihari (Pud) 7 drew with R. Dileep Kumar (7); L.R. Srihari (7) bt Jubin Jimmy (Ker) 6.5.
Girls: Tejaswini Sagar (Guj) 8 drew with K. Priyanka (AICF) 8.5; Niharika Ch. (AP) 7.5 drew with Arpita Mukherjee (WB) 8; Kavisha S. Shah (Guj) 7.5 drew with Sakshi Chitlange (Mah) 7.5; Tarini Goyal (Chd) 8 bt Harshita Guddanti (AP) 7; Bommini Mounika Akshaya (AP) 7.5 bt L. Jyothsna (6.5); G. Abirama Srinithi (7) drew with Rajashree Rajeev (Ker) 7; V. Toshali (AP) 7.5 bt B. Harshini (6); B. Jegatha (7) drew with Bhanot Stuti (Har) 6.5; Dhyana Patel (Guj) 7 bt C.M.N. Sunyuktha (6); Garima Gaurav (Bih) 6.5 bt M.K. Sri Poorna (6).
Final standings (Top five): Open: 1. Rithvik (Tel); 2. Arjun (Tel); 3. Mitrabha (WB); 4. Rathanvel (TN); 5. Saurabh (Bih).
Girls: 1. Priyanka (AICF); 2. Arpita (WB); 3. Tarini (Chd); 4. Tejaswini (Guj); 5. Sakshi (Mah).
