Kanpur: The 11-round tournament KARAM DEVI MEMORIAL INDIA CUP, 23rd National under17 Chess Championship 2012 (U-17 Boys & Girls) today concluded here with IM Vaibhav Suri of Delhi emerged as the ultimate winner of the championship proving his supremacy over his counterparts, while Pratyusha Bodda of Andhra Pradesh clinched the title in the girls category.
A battle in which every move of the opponent was unusual the International Master playing black didn’t lost his cool and defended brilliantly the e4 attack in Sicilian Taimanov Defence. In a slow game of 35 moves Suri agreed for a draw with Padhya Saumil but won the National Championship for the first time as he leaded in the points tally.
Rishi Sardana of Delhi became the runner-up with 8 points. Sardana drew with Chandak Shivam of Gujarat in the final round.
G Akash of Tamil Nadu was the second runner-up with 8 points. Akash outwitted his club mate Nishvin J.
In another close match Pratyusha Bodda of Andhra Pradesh split points with her state mate Priya Vss. Pratyusha playing white attacked with e4 which was countered in Sicilian Defence. After a hard fought battle for 39 moves both the players split points.
While WFM Saranya J of Tamil Nadu won over club mate WFM Srija Seshadri. In a tactical battle, Srija playing black defended hard with e5 for Saranya’s e4 and led the game in Hungarian variation but after 40 moves of tough play she laid all arms to Saranya J.
After a tie-break between Pratyusha Bodda and WFM Saranya J of Tamil Nadu both with 8.5 points, the former was declared as the winner.
Saranya J became the runner-up while Michelle Catherina P of Tamil Nadu was the second runner-up.
The concluding ceremony was carried out after matches. The chief guest Dr. Sanjay Kapoor, President, U.P Chess Sports Association congratulated the winners and awarded them with the cash prizes of Rs. 2, 00,000, further, Dr. Sanjay Kapoor addressed the gathering encouraged the participants with his rhetoric. “With the success of the tournament Kanpur has made its identity not only in the state but also in the nation, Kanpur has thus created a new platform for budding chess players where they can challenge their wits against each other, U.P Chess Sports Association will always be the inclined to recognize the talents of chess players and in future we will hold championships on a bigger scale ” said Kapoor.
Other eminent chess personalities present at the conclusion ceremony were A.K Raizada, Secretary, U.P Sports Association, Mr. Dharmendra Kumar, Chief Arbitrator, Mr. P Maul, Principal, KDMA and Mr. Vinay Anand, President, Kanpur Chess Sports Association. The event was coordinated by Mr. D.K Srivastava and was made a success with the aid of Mr. Santosh Srivastava, Mr. Zafar Alam and the entire KDMA family.
The city players also played well in the championship, Anuj Trivedi, Shasvat Uphadhyay, Ashutosh Mishra, Mallika Gupta and Aporva Mishra were the city hopes.
POINTS AFTER 11TH (FINAL) ROUND
BOYS
IM Vaibhav Suri ( 8.5 pts), Rishi Sardana, G Akash, CM Prince Bajaj ( all 8 pts).
GIRLS
Pratyusha Bodda, WFM Saranya J ( both 8.5 pts), Michelle Catherina P ( 8 pts), Rathore Sonakshi, Priya Vss, WFM Srija Seshadri ( all 7.5 points )
Indian Sports News Network
