12 Champions crowned at the 13th National Schools Chess Championship 2025

A dozen National Champions awarded in Peddapuram

It was an exciting final round of play at the 13th National Schools Chess Championship 2025 at the Sri Prakash Synergy School, Peddapuram, Andhra Pradesh. While there were confirmed winners before the 9th round in a few of the categories, the majority of the winners were decided on the last round! We bring you the standings of all the 12 categories and the winners who were crowned. In each of the categories, the Champion received Rs. 10,000.

We have to start off with the very special girl who made it a perfect score -9/9 points!

Under-7 Girls Champion -  Shreyanshi Jain (1485, Rajasthan), 9/9 points

Little Shreyanshi had already confirmed her title with her win in the penultimate (8th) round. But with 8/8 points, she had to go for the maximum! She did, and she won the prize which was promised - the "Attack like a super GM" video course, signed by none other than the author, the 18th World Chess Champion, D Gukesh. What a wonderful story!

Under-7 Open Champion - Kavish Bhattad (1515, Maharashtra), 8/9 points

The top seed of his section, 7-year-old Kavish Bhattad from Pune, Maharashtra scored an unbeaten 8/9 points to clinch 1st place in the Under-7 Open category. After an eventful draw in the 9th and final round, he was the clear Champion! Kavish was present with his full family - his father, mother and twin brother. All of them were very happy!

Under-9 Girls Champion - Nakshatra Gumudavelly (1495, Karnataka), 8/9 points

Nakshatra Gumudavelly won the Bronze medal in the Under-8 Girls category in Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024. This time, she wins the National Schools Under-9 Girls Chess Championship outright, a full point ahead of the field! Nakshatra scored 7 wins in a row in the first 7 rounds, then comfortably clinched victory by drawing her 8th and 9th round games. This girl is growing strength to strength!

Under-9 Open Champion: Shreyan Thipparthi (1625, Telangana), 8.5/9 points

After Shreyanshi, 9-year-old Shreyan Thipparthi came the closest to reaching a perfect 9/9 score. Apart from his 7th round draw, Shreyan scored wins in all the other rounds! He had a half-point lead over the field going into the last round, and won his final round game to win the tournament without the need of any tiebreak scores. Shreyan's father was accompanying him in this tournament, and he mentioned Shreyan would solve over 1000 puzzles in 3 days!

Under-11 Girls Champion - Samhita Pungavanam (1692, Telangana) - 7.5/9 points

The National Under-9 Girls Champion 2023, Samhita Pungavanam scored 7.5/9 points to become the National Schools Under-11 Girls Champion. Samhita was leading by a full point before the final round, and even after a loss in the final round she won the tournament due to superior tiebreaks! Samhita was present with her mother and her coach, Saket Pedagandham.

U-11 Open Champion: Vairaj Sogerwal (1877, Haryana) - 8/9 points

It was essentially a finale clash between Vairaj Sogerwal and Venkata Naga in the 9th and final round. Both players were on 7 points each, and the winner would become the Champion! Vairaj scored a very nice win with the White pieces to become the clear champion with 8/9 points. A great performance by the Haryana boy - he also came up on stage to say a few words when the organizers were inviting people from different states to express their thoughts about the tournament during the closing ceremony! This is Vairaj's first national title.

Under-13 Girls Champion: Deekshita Modipalli (1857, Telangana) - 8/9 points

Deekshita scored 8/9 points to secure 1st place in the Under-13 girls category. A draw could have been fine for her in the final round, but she got an unexpected opportunity and went on to win the final round game, winning clear 1st position. With 2 draws and 7 wins, she remained unbeaten throughout the tournament! Deekshita mentioned her immediate goal is to become an WIM.

Under-13 Open Champion: Samuel Stephen Noble S (1931, Andhra Pradesh) - 8/9 points

Samuel Stephen Noble S took clear 1st place in the Under-13 Open section, scoring 8/9 points. He started off as the 3rd seed, and performed consistently throughout the tournament. His critical win came against Niladri Banerjee in the 8th round with the White pieces - the win which allowed him to win the tournament even with a draw in the final round. Samuel mentioned he learned chess by watching YouTube videos!

Under-15 Girls Champion: Theephigaa KP (1765, Tamil Nadu) - 7.5/9 points

Theephigaa KP from Tamil Nadu is among the very few champions out of 12 who suffered a loss in the tournament. Theephigaa had a rough loss in the 7th round, but bounced back strong in the last 2 rounds to clinch the tournament clearly, a half point over the field! A nice comeback win for the young girl.

Under-15 Open Champion: Rosh Jain (2071, Delhi) - 7.5/9 points

The Under-15 Open section had no less than 4 players with 6.5/8 points going into the 9th and final round. Rosh scored a nice win with the White pieces in the final round, while the other boards drew  - so Rosh Jain became the Champion with 7.5/9 points! The Delhi boy played on the top boards throughout the tournament and was able to finish off well.

Under-17 Girls Champion: Ananya Raman (1935, Tamil Nadu) - 7/9 points

The top seed Ananya Raman clinched the top spot in the Under-17 girls category. After a tough loss in the 6th round, things were not so easy for her - but she persevered, and won the next 2 rounds! A draw in the final round was enough to give her a clear win, half a point over the field.

Under-17 Open Champion: Gyana Sai Santhosh M (2024, Andhra Pradesh) - 7.5/9 points

Gyana was among the few Champions who actually secured 1st place before the final round - he had an unsurmountable 1.5 point lead over the field. A draw in the final round, and he became the Champion with 7.5/9 points! The Andhra boy plays lots of open tournaments, and is really inspired by Gukesh.

Photo and Video Gallery

Important links

Full Facebook album with all the photos

Full YouTube playlist with all videos

Chess-results link for all the standings

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