MPL 31st National U-18 R1-6: Bhagyashree Patil scores a double hat-trick

by R Anantharam - 21/04/2022

Top seed GM Bharath Subramaniyam H (TN) and CM Soham Kamotra (J&K) share the lead 5.5/6 at the conclusion of the sixth round of MPL 31st National Under-18 Open Chess Championship 2022. Soham held Bharath to a draw in the sixth round. They are closely followed by eight players at 5.0/6 including IM Srihari L R (TN) and IM Avinash Ramesh (TN). In the Girls event, WFM Bhagyashree Patil (MAH) registered her sixth victory over Keerti Shree Reddy (TN) to emerge as the sole leader 6.0/6. Kanishka S (TN) is the only girl trailing her by a half point at 5.5/6. Round 7 starts today at 9:30 a.m. IST today. Photo: IA R Anantharam

Bharath and Soham share the lead in the Open

It is rare to see a player from Jammu and Kashmir to play on the top board against a grandmaster. More rarity is the player holding the top seed to a draw. It has happened in the sixth round of the ongoing 31st National Under-18 Chess Championships at Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. The J & K player is CM Soham Kamotra and the opponent is H Bharath Subramaniyam of Tamil Nadu.

GM H Bharath Subramaniyam was held to a draw by CM Soham Kanotra of Jammu & Kashmir | Photo: IA R Anantharam

After six rounds of play, the duo is leading with 5.5 points each and a pack of eight players are lagging behind by half a point. The second placed group includes International Master L R Srihari, IM Avinash Ramesh, FM Harshad S – all from Tamil Nadu, John Veny Akkarakkaran of Kerala and FM Ayush Sharma of MP. The seventh round will witness the clash between the top two seeds Bharath and Srihari.

IM L R Srihari had two draws in six games. He drew with John Veny Akkarakkaran in the sixth round | Photo: IA R Anantharam

The local boy FM Harshad S played a solid game to split the point with the IM Avinash Ramesh | Photo: IA R Anantharam

FM Ayush Sharma of MP was the only winner among the top four games defeating Mrithyunjay Mahadevan of TN. The extra pawn on the d-file helped Ayush to pocket the point in a rook and bishop vs rook and knight ending.

FM Ayush Sharma of MP was the only winner among the top board games, against CM Mrithyunjay | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Former National Under-9 champion Ilamparithi A R was lucky to get a full point against Dhruva Thota, when the latter blundered after having decisive advantage for the better of the endgame.

Ilamparthi A R got the full point in a drawn position | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Bhagyashree Patil of Jalgaon, Maharashtra is on a winning spree, securing six points from six games. S Kanishka of Salem from Tamil Nadu is the only player on 5.5. The withdrawal of the top seed WFM L Jyothsna after the fourth round of the championship on health grounds may make things easier for the second seeded Bhagyashree.

Bhagyashree Patil of Maharashtra accounted for Keerti Shree Reddy of Tamil Nadu to score her sixth win in six rounds | Photo: IA R Anantharam

S Kanishka of Tamil Nadu defeated Sachi Jain to follow the leader closely | Photo: IA R Anantharam

V Rindhiya and Keerti of TN, Chinnam Vyshnavi of AP and Anupam M Sreekumar of Kerala registered wins in the sixth round to score five points each.

V Rindhiya of TN has scored five points after the win over Vakcheri Mohita of AP in the sixth round | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Another Andhra girl Chinnam Vyshnavi was on the winning side to raise her tally to five points by beating Tejaswi of TN | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Grandmaster R B Ramesh, former Commonwealth (2007) and British champion (2002) inaugurated the tournament in presence of twice Asian Junior champion GM Shyam Sundar M, Dr. M Manickam, President of TNSCA and Chairman of Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering & Technology and TNSCA General secretary P Stephen Balasamy.

Grandmaster R B Ramesh, former Commonwealth (2007) and British champion (2002) inaugurated the championships. Dr. Manickam, Mr. Stephen, GM Bharath and WFM L Jyothsna are also in the picture | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Twice Asian Junior champion GM Shyam Sundar M trained the Tamil Nadu players for one week in the college | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering & Technology has provided beds and pillows to all players (both selected and special entries) and parents and also free food, a rare gesture nowadays.

A view of the playing hall | Photo: IA R Anantharam

A total of 138 players including a GM and 3 IMs in the Open and 91 players in the Girls tournament are taking part. It is organized by Coimbatore District Chess Association. Both tournaments are taking place at Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi from 18th to 23rd April 2022. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

Replay Open Round 1-6 games

Replay Girls Round 1-6 games

Open Round 6 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	7	CM	Soham Kamotra	2159	J&k	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2503	TN	1
2	2	IM	Srihari L R	2398	TN	4½	½ - ½	4½		John Veny Akkarakaran	1687	Ker	27
3	5	FM	Harshad S	2272	TN	4	½ - ½	4½		Avinash Ramesh	2369	TN	3
4	20	CM	Mrithyunjay Mahadevan	1763	TN	4	0 - 1	4	FM	Ayush Sharma	2311	MP	4
5	26		Dhruva Thota	1694	Tel	4	0 - 1	4		Ilamparthi A R	2122	TN	9
6	28		Apoorv Kamble	1679	Kar	4	0 - 1	4		Rakshith Srinivasan	2011	Kar	11
7	14		Dinesh Rajan M	1912	TN	4	0 - 1	4		Arul Anandh S P K	1763	TN	21
8	15		Mahendra Teja Mekala	1847	AP	4	½ - ½	4		Vengatesh Krishnan C	1557	TN	37
9	18		Krishnan Ritvik	1800	MAH	4	1 - 0	4		Nawin M S	1722	TN	23
10	8	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2129	TN	3½	1 - 0	4		Gokulakrishna S	1385	TN	65

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Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	1	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2503	TN	5½		5	IM	Srihari L R	2398	TN	2
2	3		Avinash Ramesh	2369	TN	5		5½	CM	Soham Kamotra	2159	J&k	7
3	4	FM	Ayush Sharma	2311	MP	5		5		Krishnan Ritvik	1800	MAH	18
4	9		Ilamparthi A R	2122	TN	5		5		Arul Anandh S P K	1763	TN	21
5	27		John Veny Akkarakaran	1687	Ker	5		5		Rakshith Srinivasan	2011	Kar	11
6	15		Mahendra Teja Mekala	1847	AP	4½		4½	FM	Harshad S	2272	TN	5
7	37		Vengatesh Krishnan C	1557	TN	4½		4½	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2129	TN	8
8	40		Piyush Kumar	1535	BIH	4½		4½	AGM	Vignesh B	2062	TN	10
9	6	FM	Ayushh Ravikumar	2165	TN	4		4		Sarvade Mihiir	1559	Mah	36
10	35		Sathvik Adiga	1563	Kar	4		4		Dinesh Rajan M	1912	TN	14

Details

Girls Round 6 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	2	WFM	Bhagyashree Patil	S		1931	Mah	5	1 - 0	5		Keerti Shree Reddy	N		1706	TN	8
2	14		Kanishka S	N		1631	TN	4½	1 - 0	4		Sachi Jain	S		1691	Del	9
3	4		Rindhiya V	S		1880	TN	4	1 - 0	4		Vakcheri Mohitha	S		1479	AP	20
4	25		Tejaswi R	S		1414	TN	4	0 - 1	4	WCM	Chinnam Vyshnavi	N		1673	AP	11
5	30		Saniya Rafique Tadavi	S		1370	Mah	4	0 - 1	4		Anupam M Sreekumar	N		1653	Ker	13
6	7		Sasvatha A	S		1707	TN	3½	0 - 1	3½		Khairmode Dhanashree	N		1511	Mah	18
7	22		Varshita Jain	S		1459	MP	3½	0 - 1	3½		Ishvi Aggarwal	N		1681	Har	10
8	12		Femil Chelladurai	S		1664	TN	3½	½ - ½	3½		Tanushree V P	S		1238	TN	41
9	27		Azal Nasir	N		1396	Del	3½	0 - 1	3½		Vijayasubhasri S	N		1628	TN	15
10	37		Priya Mondal	N		1263	Wes	3½	1 - 0	3½		Meenatchi Rajam V	N		1530	TN	17

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	14		Kanishka S	N		1631	TN	5½		6	WFM	Bhagyashree Patil	S		1931	Mah	2
2	11	WCM	Chinnam Vyshnavi	N		1673	AP	5		5		Rindhiya V	S		1880	TN	4
3	8		Keerti Shree Reddy	N		1706	TN	5		5		Anupam M Sreekumar	N		1653	Ker	13
4	10		Ishvi Aggarwal	N		1681	Har	4½		4½		Khairmode Dhanashree	N		1511	Mah	18
5	15		Vijayasubhasri S	N		1628	TN	4½		4½		Priya Mondal	N		1263	Wes	37
6	3	WCM	Kheerthi Ganta	S		1909	Tel	4		4		Aswinika Mani R	S		1469	TN	21
7	23		Sindhusree K	N		1458	TN	4		4		Shreshtha Surai	N		1819	Wes	5
8	9		Sachi Jain	S		1691	Del	4		4		Tejaswi R	S		1414	TN	25
9	43	ACM	Theephigaa K P	S		1218	TN	4		4		Femil Chelladurai	S		1664	TN	12
10	41		Tanushree V P	S		1238	TN	4		4		Sajitha B	S		1603	TN	16

Details

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships.

The article was edited by Shahid Ahmed

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