National Chess U-17: Suri, Pratyusha Win Titles

Pratyusha

IM Vaibhav Suri of Delhi and Pratyusha Bodda of Andhra have won the Karma Devi Memorial 23rd National Under-17 Open Chess Championship 2012 which concluded in Kanpur on Wednesday. This is the first time that the Under-17 national chess championship has been held in Kanpur.

Vaibhav Suri

In the eleventh (final) round, Vaibhav Suri playing black agreed to a draw with Padhya Saumil, but won the championship for the first time as he led in the points tally. Rishi Sardana of Delhi became the runners-up with 8 points. Sardana drew with Chandak Shivam of Gujarat in the final round. G Akash of Tamil Nadu was the second runners-up with 8 points. beat Nishvin J.

In another close match Pratyusha Bodda of Andhra Pradesh drew with Priya Vss. Pratyusha to win the girls’ title. WFM Saranya J of Tamil Nadu beat WFM Srija Seshadri. After a tie-break between Pratyusha Bodda and WFM Saranya J of Tamil Nadu, both with 8.5 points, the former was declared the winner. Saranya J became the runners-up while Michelle Catherina P of Tamil Nadu was the second runners-up. Dr. Sanjay Kapoor, president, UP Chess Sports Association gave away the prizes to the winners.

Points after the 11th (final) round:- Boys: IM Vaibhav Suri (8.5 pts), Rishi Sardana, G Akash, CM Prince Bajaj (all 8 pts each); Girls: Pratyusha Bodda, WFM Saranya J (both 8.5 pts each), Michelle Catherina P (8 pts), Rathore Sonakshi, Priya Vss, WFM Srija Seshadri (all 7.5 points each.