World School 2025: Pragnika Vaka Lakshmi Golden, Silver for Om Esh Gottumukala and Divi Bijesh
Pragnika Vaka Lakshmi scored a perfect 9/9 to win the Gold medal for India at the World School Under-7 Girls Chess Championship 2025. She defeated both runners-up, Mohinur Azakhujaeva (UZB) and Vera Jintian Xu (NZL) in Round 4 and 5 respectively. Om Esh Gottumukala secured a Silver medal in Under-7 Open. He scored 7.5/9, suffering only one loss against the eventual champion, Abdul-Malik Kairat (KAZ). Om drew with Oskar Fatkhlislamov in the last round. WCM Chinzorig Nandinjiguur (MGL) and WCM Divi Bijesh scored an unbeaten 8/9 each in Under-11 Girls. Chinzorig won Gold and Divi had to settle for Silver. Their sixth round game against each other ended in a draw. Photo: Andrej Jovanovic/Chess Federation of Serbia
Pragnika scores a perfect 9/9, India wins three medals
Under-7 Girls: Gold
Surat district Under-7 Girls and Gujarat State Under-7 Girls 2024 champion, Pragnika Vaka Lakshmi (1437) scored a perfect 9/9 to clinch Gold in Under-7 Girls. She finished a staggering two points ahead of the competition, defeated both runners-up, Mohinur Azakhujaeva (UZB) and Vera Jintian Xu (NZL) in Round 4 and 5, they scored 7/9 each to secure Silver and Bronze medals respectively.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Pragnika, Vaka Lakshmi | IND | 1437 | 9 | 0 | 44,5 | 48,5 | 4 | 9 | 2209 | 40 | 22,8 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Azamkhujaeva, Mohinur | UZB | 0 | 7 | 1 | 46,5 | 49,5 | 3 | 7 | 1633 | ||||
| 3 | 22 | Xu, Vera Jintian | NZL | 0 | 7 | 0 | 46,5 | 50,5 | 3 | 7 | 1633 |
Under-7 Open: Silver
Abdul-Malik Kairat (KAZ, 1601) scored a perfect 9/9 to clinch the Gold in Under-7 Open. Om Esh Gottumukala (1413) scored 7.5/9 to secure a Silver medal. His only loss was against the eventual champion, Abdul-Malik. Oskar Fatkhlislamov (1426) scored 6.5/9 to get Bronze. Om drew with Oskar in the final round.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kairat, Abdul-Malik | KAZ | 1601 | 9 | 0 | 46,5 | 50,5 | 5 | 9 | 2219 | 40 | 37,2 | ||
| 2 | 7 | Om, Esh Gottumukala | IND | 1413 | 7,5 | 0 | 47 | 51 | 4 | 7 | 1698 | 40 | -9,6 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Fatkhlislamov, Oskar | FID | 1426 | 6,5 | 0 | 48 | 51 | 2 | 6 | 1590 | 40 | -11,6 |
Under-11 Girls: Silver
WCM Chinzorig Nandinjiguur (MGL, 1770) and WCM Divi Bijesh (1827) scored an unbeaten 8/9 each. Chinzorig won Gold due to better tie-break scores, the reigning National Under-11 Girls 2024 champion, Divi had to settle for Silver. Their sixth round battle against each other ended in a draw. They finished 1.5 points ahead of the rest. Dorjderem Munkh-Ayalguu (MGL, 1689) scored 6.5/9 to get the Bronze medal.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | WCM | Nandinjiguur, Chinzorig | MGL | 1770 | 8 | 0,5 | 47,5 | 52 | 3 | 7 | 2059 | 40 | 110 | |
| 2 | 3 | WCM | Divi, Bijesh | IND | 1827 | 8 | 0,5 | 47 | 47 | 4 | 7 | 2021 | 40 | 66,8 | |
| 3 | 9 | Munkh-Ayalguu, Dorjderem | MGL | 1689 | 6,5 | 0 | 45,5 | 48,5 | 3 | 6 | 1819 | 40 | 58,4 |