MPL 35th National U-9 Round 10: Karnataka domination across Open and girls

by Himank Ghosh - 02/01/2023

Both the leaders of the Open section and Girls section kept up their form in the penultimate round of the MPL 35th National Under-9 Championships going on right now at Indore Public School. Pratitee Bordoloi (1201, Karnataka) defeated Aadya Ranganath (1327, Karnataka) in girls, and Aarav Sarbalia (1458, Karnataka) continued his domination with a win over R Nijesh (1365, Tamil Nadu). Both of the leaders are hailing from Karnataka! The final round 11 starts from 2nd January at 9:30 AM IST, and the prize distribution ceremony will take place at afternoon time. Thumbnail: Himank Ghosh

Aarav Sarbalia continues his golden run

Aarav Sarbalia (1458, Karnataka) is simply unstoppable in the MPL 35th National Under-9 Championships. After taking the sole lead back on Round 7, he has produced 4 wins in a row! In the penultimate round, Aarav took down R Nijesh (1365, Tamil Nadu). He now has a half point lead over tournament top seed Madhavendra Pratap Sharma (1585, MP) going into the final round!

MPL National U9 Round 10 Open: Aarav Sarbalia - R Nijesh : 1-0

Board no.1: Aarav Sarbalia (left) vs R Nijesh (right)

Aarav got quite a comfortable edge out of the opening - Black's minor pieces were not as active as compared to White's. However, it was not easy to break through as Nijesh's position was quite solid. Nijesh went wrong in a tactical skirmish late in the middlegame:

Position after 34...Kg8?

This was the decisive blunder by Nijesh. It was very important to play the move ...Kh6! though it is not obvious at first glance why. The reason is: After ...Kh6 Qxf6 Qd4+ Qxd4 Rxd4 Re4 Rd1+ Kh2, Black can further activate his king by ...Kg5! However, as it happened in the game, when the same position occurs, now Black's King is stuck on g8 still.

King activity plays a big role in endgames - Black has realistic chances of holding this position if only the King was on g5!

Aarav had low time on the clock, but he still flawlessly converted this ending, not falling for any tricks and making the maximum use of the c-passer and Black's passive King. The game ended with a checkmate on move 63.

Saideep Suman - Madhavendra Pratap Sharma : 0-1

If there is one player who is always breathing on the neck of the tournament leader Aarav Sarbalia, it is Madhavendra Pratap Sharma (1585, MP). With the win over Saideep Suman (1407, Karnataka) in the penultimate round, he just scored a hat-trick of victories! Going into the final round, he is only half a point behind Aarav. This game was just a positional masterpiece!

White's position is already very tough to play, but 25. Rf1 was the critical error.

White's only chance was to play something like f3, giving up a pawn by exf3 Qxf5 Rxf5. This is by no means a pleasent position to play for White, but atleast the Queens are off the board and there will be no attack anymore. In the game, Madhavendra now broke through with 25...c5! The White King's shelter was stripped off, and Madhavendra got a huge attack on the White King.

What a beautiful position - the two White rooks and the Knight are just standing in the Kingside, and the White queen is trapped on a1!

The game ended on move 39 with Madhavendra checkmating Saideep. The tournament top seed is in a must-win situation today if he wants a go at the top spot!

Round 10 Girls: Pratitee Bordoloi - Aadya Ranganath: 1-0

Board no.1 - Pratitee Bordoloi (left) vs Aadya Ranganath (right)

This was a critical round for Pratitee Bordoloi (1201, Karnataka) as she was facing her closest competitor Aadya Ranganath (1327, Karnataka). It actually did not start out well for her - in the middlegame, she was down two pawns and had a lost position.

Black's pieces are much better than White's, and Black is up two pawns!

However, in chess it is not over till it's over. Pratitee showed her perseverance, kept finding defensive resources and eventually her opponent blundered:

Do you see why 33...Bxf4 is a horrendous blunder?

Aadya's idea was probably something like gxf4 Rxf4+ followed by Rxf5, winning another pawn. But she had completely overlooked 34. Kf3! Now both the Rook and the Bishop are attacked, and it is White who has a winning position. The resulting Rook+Knight and pawns vs Rook+pawns ending was definitely not easy to convert, but Pratitee kept her calm and grinded out a 82-move marathon victory. Check out Pratitee's exclusive interview with analysis below:

9-year-old Pratitee Bordoloi wins 5 in a row | MPL 35th National Under-9 Girls Championships

Photo Gallery

Just look at the intensity of expression on this youngster's face!

The chief guest for Round 10 was Shri Om Soni, Vice president of Madhya Pradesh Olympic association!

Every scoresheet has a story to tell!

A shot of the busy tournament hall in the penultimate round.

For more photos of Round 10, click here.

MPL 35th NATIONAL UNDER-9 OPEN & GIRLS CHESSCHAMPIONSHIPS – 2022 Day - 7 Round 10

Open section Round 10 games

Girls section Round 10 games

Standings after Round 10 (Girls)

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	8		Pratitee Bordoloi	w	1201	Karnataka	9	59	63	56,00	0	8
2	12		Aahna Gulati	w	1156	Haryana	8	51,5	55	43,00	0	8
3	20		Aadya Gowda	w	1099	Karnataka	7,5	61	65	45,50	0	6
4	15		Shashini Puvi	w	1130	Karnataka	7,5	61	65	44,75	0	6
5	3		Aadya Ranganath	w	1327	Karnataka	7,5	57,5	60,5	41,25	0	7
6	16		Bruhathi Kondisetti	w	1121	Telangana	7,5	57	61	42,75	0	6
7	23		Pooja Shree R	w	1091	Tamil Nadu	7,5	55,5	60	42,75	0	7
8	10		Bhumika Suresh Waghle	w	1182	Maharashtra	7	57	60,5	40,75	0	6
9	2		Vedika Vijaykumar Pal	w	1362	Maharashtra	7	55	56	36,00	0	6
10	18		Yati Agarwal	w	1114	Gujarat	7	52,5	55,5	34,50	0	7
11	34		Dishita Dey	w	1038	Jharkhand	7	50,5	54	35,00	0	7
12	7		Bhavanya Panchumarthi	w	1227	Andhra Pradesh	7	49,5	53,5	35,50	0	6
13	30		Sharvaanica A S	w	1050	Tamil Nadu	6,5	65	68	39,75	0	6
14	58		Deepthaashri Ravi Ganesh	w	0	Tamil Nadu	6,5	63,5	68	40,75	0	6
15	21		Samhita Pungavanam	w	1095	Telangana	6,5	61,5	65	38,50	0	6
16	62		Divi Bijesh	w	0	Kerala	6,5	61	66	40,50	0	5
17	76		Leah R Joseph	w	0	Karnataka	6,5	56	60,5	37,50	0	6
18	9		Aarohi Mathur	w	1190	Telangana	6,5	56	60	36,50	0	6
19	22		Arpita Amey Patankar	w	1093	Gujarat	6,5	55,5	58	35,00	0	6
20	17	AFM	Diya Digamber Sawal	w	1115	Goa	6,5	50	53,5	30,25	0	6

Full standings

Standings after Round 10 (Open)

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	2		Aarav Sarbalia		1458	Karnataka	9,5	60,5	66	61,50	0	9
2	1		Madhvendra Pratap Sharma		1585	Madhya Pradesh	9	65,5	69	60,25	0	8
3	13		Aarav A		1341	Tamil Nadu	8	61,5	66	50,75	0	6
4	32	ACM	Balanandan Ayyappan		1267	Kerala	8	61	64,5	48,50	0	7
5	6		Rahul Ramakrishnan		1386	Puducherry	8	56	60,5	47,00	0	7
6	11		Aaryan Amol Waghmare		1350	Maharashtra	7,5	61,5	65,5	45,00	0	7
7	17		Cyrus Eldho		1322	Kerala	7,5	59,5	65	46,00	0	7
8	40		Paarshva Parmar		1231	Rajasthan	7,5	54,5	55,5	37,25	0	7
9	44	AFM	Mithun Pranav Praveen Kumar		1217	Tamil Nadu	7,5	53,5	57	39,25	0	7
10	51		Krithik Muthukumar		1203	Tamil Nadu	7,5	49	52	38,75	0	7
11	8		Aditya Shripad Joshi		1368	Maharashtra	7	60,5	65	41,75	0	6
12	9		R Nijesh		1365	Tamil Nadu	7	60,5	64,5	41,50	0	5
13	5		Saideep Suman		1407	Karnataka	7	59	63	39,00	0	7
14	16		Aarit Kapil		1327	Delhi	7	58,5	64	40,50	0	6
15	22		Aadhya Vijayakumar		1290	Tamil Nadu	7	56	61	41,25	0	6
16	25		Daniel Ajish		1281	Kerala	7	56	60	39,50	0	7
17	50		Dharsh M		1207	Tamil Nadu	7	55	58,5	38,00	0	6
18	192		Saras Summer Powar		0	Goa	7	53,5	58	39,50	0	5
19	94		Anish Ramkumar		1093	Tamil Nadu	7	52,5	54	36,75	0	6
20	14		Herin Renishkumar Patel		1337	Gujarat	7	51,5	56,5	39,25	0	6

Full standings

Round 11 pairings (Open)

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	32	ACM	Balanandan Ayyappan	1267	Kerala	8		9½		Aarav Sarbalia	1458	Karnataka	2
2	6		Rahul Ramakrishnan	1386	Puducherry	8		9		Madhvendra Pratap Sharma	1585	Madhya Pradesh	1
3	13		Aarav A	1341	Tamil Nadu	8		7½		Paarshva Parmar	1231	Rajasthan	40
4	51		Krithik Muthukumar	1203	Tamil Nadu	7½		7½		Aaryan Amol Waghmare	1350	Maharashtra	11
5	17		Cyrus Eldho	1322	Kerala	7½		7½	AFM	Mithun Pranav Praveen Kumar	1217	Tamil Nadu	44
6	39		Mehul Sondhi	1231	Delhi	7		7		Saideep Suman	1407	Karnataka	5
7	42		Vairaj Sogerwal	1224	Haryana	7		7		Aditya Shripad Joshi	1368	Maharashtra	8
8	9		R Nijesh	1365	Tamil Nadu	7		7		Veer Rakeshkumar Patel	0	Gujarat	204
9	47		Kavyansh Jain	1212	Rajasthan	7		7		Herin Renishkumar Patel	1337	Gujarat	14
10	70		Rudra Kavia	1142	Rajasthan	7		7		Aarit Kapil	1327	Delhi	16
11	192		Saras Summer Powar	0	Goa	7		7		Aadhya Vijayakumar	1290	Tamil Nadu	22
12	25		Daniel Ajish	1281	Kerala	7		7		Anish Ramkumar	1093	Tamil Nadu	94
13	20		Sayan Barua	1293	West Bengal	6½		7		Dharsh M	1207	Tamil Nadu	50
14	35		Kushagra Paliwal	1253	Maharashtra	6½		6½		Hemal Varshan Andalamala	1422	Andhra Pradesh	3
15	7		Arjun Vasireddy	1375	Andhra Pradesh	6½		6½		Isshaan Arun	1112	Karnataka	87

Complete pairings

Round 11 pairings (Girls)

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.	Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	12		Aahna Gulati	1156	Haryana	8		9	Pratitee Bordoloi	1201	Karnataka	8
2	3		Aadya Ranganath	1327	Karnataka	7½		7½	Pooja Shree R	1091	Tamil Nadu	23
3	15		Shashini Puvi	1130	Karnataka	7½		7	Bhumika Suresh Waghle	1182	Maharashtra	10
4	7		Bhavanya Panchumarthi	1227	Andhra Pradesh	7		7½	Bruhathi Kondisetti	1121	Telangana	16
5	20		Aadya Gowda	1099	Karnataka	7½		7	Dishita Dey	1038	Jharkhand	34
6	18		Yati Agarwal	1114	Gujarat	7		7	Vedika Vijaykumar Pal	1362	Maharashtra	2
7	4		Shreya Rajesh	1302	Karnataka	6½		6½	Sharvaanica A S	1050	Tamil Nadu	30
8	9		Aarohi Mathur	1190	Telangana	6½		6½	Divi Bijesh	0	Kerala	62
9	22		Arpita Amey Patankar	1093	Gujarat	6½		6½	Rishitha Narayanan	1136	Andhra Pradesh	14
10	17	AFM	Diya Digamber Sawal	1115	Goa	6½		6½	Leah R Joseph	0	Karnataka	76
11	58		Deepthaashri Ravi Ganesh	0	Tamil Nadu	6½		6½	Samhita Pungavanam	1095	Telangana	21
12	11		Janaki Sd	1158	Kerala	6		6	Sana G	0	Tamil Nadu	89
13	96		Srishti Rupa Roy	0	Assam	6		6	Skyla Rodrigues	1074	Goa	25
14	33		Asmita Biswas	1038	West Bengal	6		6	Subhasmita Priyadarshini	0	Odisha	97
15	35		Indusheetala Natarajan	1032	Karnataka	6		6	Sudhiksha Karthick	0	Tamil Nadu	98

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. The final Round 11 will be held on 2nd January 2023 from 9:30 AM.

Important links

IPSA Indore Facebook page

IPS Academy Indore YouTube

Indore Public School Facebook

Indore Public School Website

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