IM R. Raja Rithvik (Telangana) and WIM Divya Deshmukh (Maharashtra) remained unbeaten throughout and emerged the champions of the National sub-junior (under-15) chess championship here on Wednesday.
It was an interesting top board tussle between defending champion Ajay Karthikeyan and former Asian youth under-14 champion Rithvik. The former, who seemed to be in some control till the 37th move, blundered when it mattered most and, it was all over from there.
In the girls’ section, Divya completed a hat-trick of wins in the under-15 class. Playing the top board against Jain Nityata (Madhya Pradesh), Divya sacrificed a bishop on the 23rd move to gain a passed pawn on the queen side and went on to turn it into a queen and later a win in her favour.
Important results (final round, TN unless specified):
Open: Ajay Karthikeyan 7.5 lost to R. Raja Rithvik (TS) 9.5; Samant Aditya (Mah) 8 lost to Kushagra Mohan (TS) 9; PraloySahoo (WB) 7.5 lost to S. Rohith Krishna 8.5; V. Pranav 8.5 bt Sanket Chakravarty (WB) 7.5; AaryanVarshney (Del) 8.5 bt L. Srihari (Pud) 7.5; Nikhil Magizhnan 7.5 lost to Anadkat Kartavya (Guj) 8.5; M. Pranesh 7.5 drew with Devesh Anand Naik (Goa) 7.5; R. Rathneesh 7 lost to Aditya Varun Gampa (TS) 8; N. Vignesh 7 lost to Soham Kamotra (J&K) 8; Arjun Gupta (Del) 7.5 drew with P. Srikrishnan 7.5.
Girls: Jain Nityata (MP) 7.5 lost to Divya Deshmukh (Mah) 9.5; Bristy Mukherjee (WB) 8 drew with L. Jyothsna 8.5; Divyabharathi Masanam 7 lost to Mrudul Dehankar (Mah) 9; V. Rindhiya 7 lost to M. Sai Divya (AP) 8; M.K. Poorna Sri 7.5 drew with Arushi Kotwal (J&K) 7.5; Bhagyashree Patil (Mah) 7.5 drew with P. Tarunika 7.5; Nayanikaa Muralidharan 8 bt ChinnamVyshnavi (AP) 6.5; C. Tina 7 lost to Dhyana Patel (Guj) 7.5; V. Meenatchi Rajam 7 drew with Chopdekar Gunjal (Goa) 7; K.M. Shrija 7.5 bt Tanvi Vasudev Hadkonkar (Goa) 6.5.
