Soham Kamotra (J&K) and Bhagyashree Patil (Maharashtra), as expected, clinched the open and girls’ crown in the MPL 31st National under-18 chess championship at the Dr. Mahalingam CET campus on Saturday.
Both Soham and Bhagyashree drew their final rounds to tally 9.5 and 10 points respectively for the title. It is probably the first time that a player from J&K has sealed the National title.
IM L.R. Srihari and A.R. Ilamparthi , both from the host State, finished second and third in the open section. V. Rindhiya and S. Kanishka did likewise in the girls’ category.
M. Manickam, Chairman, Sakthi Group and president of the State Association, gave away the prizes.
Important results (final round):
Open: S. Harshad (TN) 8 drew with Soham Kamotra (J&K) 9.5; Krishnan Ritvik (Mah) 8 drew with L.R. Srihari (TN) 9; Apoorv Kamble (Kar) 8 drew with B. Vignesh (TN) 8; Rakshith Srinivasan (Kar) 7 lost to A.R. Ilamparithi (TN) 8.5; John Veny Akkarakaran (Ker) 7 lost to Dinesh Kumar Jaganathan (TN) 8.5.
Girls: K. Sindhusree (TN) 7.5 drew with Bhagyashree Patil (Mah) 10; V. Rindhiya (TN) 9 bt Yashvi Jain 7; Chinnam Vyshnavi (AP) 8 drew with S. Kanishka (TN) 8; Vakcheri Mohitha (AP) 7.5 drew with Keerti Shree Reddy (TN) 7.5; Sachi Jain (Del) 8 bt Anupam M. Sreekumar (Ker) 7.