Dev Shah, Savitha reign supreme

Rising stars: Dev Shah and B. Savitha Shri, winners of the 32nd National u-11 chess championship.

Top seeds Dev Shah (Maharashtra) and B. Savitha Shri (Tamil Nadu) finished on top in the open and girls’ category respectively at the end of the eleventh and final round of the the 32nd National under-11 chess championship here on Sunday.

Dev Shah was held to a draw by second seed Shahil Dey. Both players along with A.R. Ilamparthi (Tamil Nadu) and Mahendra Teja Mekala (Andhra Pradesh) were tied at nine points, but a better tie-break score helped Dev Shah clinch the title.

In the girls’ category, B. Savitha Shri and R. Tejaswi both from Tamil Nadu were tied at 9.5 points but a better tie-break score helped the former emerge champion.

Important results (eleventh round): Open: Shahil Dey (Asm) 9 drew with Dev Shah (Mah) 9; Mohanty Soyamsree (Odi) 8 lost to A.R. Ilamparthi (TN) 9; Tanmay Jain (Pun) 8 lost to Mahendra Teja Mekala (AP) 9; Ananmay Sharma (Guj) 8.5 bt Arhan Chethan Anand (Kar) 7.5; Akshit Jha (Mah) 8.5 bt Shreyash Shuvam Patnaik (Odi) 7.5.

Girls: K. Sindhusree (TN) 8 lost to B. Savitha Shri (TN) 9.5; Anupam M. Sreekumar (Ker) 8 lost to R. Tejaswi (TN) 9.5; Sinthia Sarkar (WB) 8 lost to K. Ratnapriya (TN) 8; Sagar Siya (Guj) 7.5 drew with B. Rianna Netta (TN) 7.5.