Vrashank Chouhan, Rakshitta Ravi take lead after five rounds at National Junior Open Chess Championships

Vrashank Chouhan and Rakshitta Ravi emerged as sole leaders in the boys and girls category respectively at the MPL National Junior Open and Girls Chess Championships in Pune on Friday.

Rajasthan’s Vrashank Chouhan and International Master Rakshitta Ravi of Tamil Nadu raced ahead of their immediate challengers with five points each at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune.

The tournament is being organized by Pune District Chess Circle in association with Maharashtra Chess Association under the aegis of All India Chess Federation (AICF).

Chouhan and Ravi won all their matches till the end of the fifth round to maintain their unbeaten streak.

WFM Bhagyashree Patil of Maharashtra (R) lost to WIM Rakshitta Ravi of Tamil Nadu on the top board in Pune on Friday. (Pic credit: AICF)

Gujarat’s Dhyey Agarwal upsets International Master VS Raahul of Tamil Nadu

In a major upset in the fifth round, Gujarat’s Dhyey Agarwal stunned International Master VS Raahul of Tamil Nadu. Raahul played a very fine game in the Exchange variation of French Defense and was in a better position until he blundered on move number 21 resulting in a Back Rank checkmate. The game ended in 23 moves

Chess Results (Round 5)

Boys Open

Vrashank Chouhan (Raj) (5) bt Rishabh Gokhale (Mah) (4)

Srihari L (Puducherry) (4) drew with Aswath S (TN) (4.5)

Dhyey Agarwal (Guj) (4.5) bt IM Raahul VS (TN) (3.5)

AGM Vignesh B (TN) (4.5) bt Anadkat Kartavya (Guj) (3.5)

Hriday Panchal (Del) (4.5) bt Manas Gaikwad (Mah) (3.5)

Yash Bharadia (Raj) (3.5) drew with Jihan Shah (Guj) (3.5)

Viresh Sharnarthi (Mah) (3) lost to Ritvik Krishnan (Mah) (4)

Dishank Bajaj (Mah) (3.5) drew with CM Mayank Chakraborty (Assam) (3.5)

Om Lamkane (Mah) (4) bt Bagwe Gaurang (Mah) (3)

Mehta Naitik R (Guj) (3.5) drew with Rohith S (TN) (3.5)

Giridhar A (Ker) (3) lost to Arun Kataria (Raj) (4)

Kartik Kumar Singh (Mah) (4) bt Piyush Kumar (Bihar) (3)

Kherdekar Arnav (Mah) (2.5) lost to IM Manish Anto Cristiano (TN) (3.5)

Vihaan Karthikeya N (TS) (3) drew with FM Ayush Sharma (MP) (3)

Gada Om (Mah) (2.5) lost to Alekhya Mukhopadhyay (WB) (3.5)

Girls

WIM Rakshitta Ravi (TN) (5) bt WFM Bhagyashree Patil (Mah) (4)

Vakcheri Mohitha (AP) (4.5) drew with WCM Bristy Mukherjee (WB) (4)

Dhanashree Khairmode (Mah) (3.5) lost to WIM Bommini Mounika Akshaya (AP) (4.5)

WFM Jyothsna L (TN) (4) bt Shreya Hipparagi (Mah) (3)

Velpula Sarayu (TS) (4) bt Dakshita Kumawat (Raj) (3)

Falak Naik (Guj) (4) bt Boramanikar Tanisha S (Mah) (3)

Sudipa Haldar (WB) (3) lost to Sai Mahati A (TS) (4)

Aditi Kayal (Mah) (4) bt Kashthuri Bhai R (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) (3)

Divya Patil (Mah) (3) lost to Marium Fatima (Bihar) (4)

Sherali Pattnaik (Uttarakhand) (3) lost to Saniya Tadavi (Mah) (4).