MPL 35th National U-9 Championships Round 2-3: The rise of Sharvaanica

The 100% girl stays true to her name

Sharvaanica A S (1050, TN) is fondly called the 100% girl, because any tournament she plays in, she makes a perfect score - the most recent examples being the National U-7 Championship and Asian Schools Championship. The National U-9 Championships are proving to be no exception. In the 2nd round, Sharvaanica caused a small upset by defeating her higher rated and more experienced opponent, Aadya Ranganath (1327, KAR) in Round 2.

MPL National U9 Round 2 Girls: Sharvaanica A S - Aadya Ranganathan - 1-0

After a relatively tranquil middlegame, Aadya suddenly blundered a pawn in the Rook ending. The resulting position was by no means easy to convert for Sharvaanica, but she kept finding all the correct moves and grinded out a 75-move marathon win, the last board to finish in Round 2.

Dheekshikha G - Alankrita Sharma: 1-0

The top seed of the girls section, Alankrita Sharma (J&K, 1419) was handed her first loss of the event in an upset victory by Dheekshika G (1058, TN). Getting a much better position straight from the opening, Dheekshika simply ripped off all defences of the Black King, eventually winning a piece and the game.

Round 3 Girls: Samhita Pungavanam - Vedika Vijaykumar Pal: 1-0

In a very complex Sicilian Dragon game where both sides tried to attack the opponent king in opposite flanks, Samhita Pungavanam (1095, Telangana) held onto her nerves better than her opponent Vedika Vijaykumar Pal (1327, Maharashtra). She recognized that the pawn sacrifice by her opponent was unsound, and successfully traded queens to enter a completely winning Rook and Knight endgame. This victory was another major upset of the day!

Round 2 Open: Aarav Sarbalia - Hridhaan Chawla: 1-0

In a game with opposite-side castling, Aarav correctly realized his initiative and started pushing his h-pawn towards the Kingside, getting a huge attack on the Black King. Hridhaan was not able to retaliate on the opposite flank, hence his position quickly turned into shambles.

Round 3 Open: Saideep Suman - Mithun Pranav Praveen Kumar: 1-0

If there's one lesson to be learnt from the game between Saideep Suman (1407, Karnataka) and Mithun Pranav Praveen Kumar (1217, Tamil Nadu), it is not to delay castling. When Mithun eventually castled on move no. 24, it was a deadly mistake as it led to a huge Kingside attack. The raging attack continued until Saideep captured Mithun's queen, and it was resigns soon afterwards.

Photo Gallery

Open section Round 2-3 games

Girls section Round 2-3 games

Standings after Round 3 (Open)

Full standings

Standings after Round 3 (Girls)

Full standings

Round 4 pairing (Open)

Complete pairings

Round 4 pairing (Girls)

Complete pairings

The MPL 35th National U9 Championship 2022 is taking place in Indore Public School. The total prize fund of this mega event is Rs. 5 lakhs. The event is being organized by the Madhya Pradesh State Chess Ad Hoc Committee. This is an 11-round classical event which will run from 25th December 2022 - 2nd January 2023. The time control of the event is 90 minutes +30 seconds increment. Round 4 starts from 3:30 PM IST.

Important links

IPSA Indore Facebook page

IPS Academy Indore YouTube

Indore Public School Facebook

Indore Public School Website

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