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MPL 35th National U-9 Round 7: Aarav and Sharvaanica take sole lead

by Himank Ghosh - 29/12/2022

The 7th Round of the MPL 35th National U-9 Championships finally became the round where a clear leader was decided in both the sections - Open and Girls. Aarav Sarbalia (1458, Karnataka) took down Niroshan Thanikachalam (1283, Tamil Nadu) in the Open section to take sole lead with 6.5/7. In the girls section, Sharvaanica A S (1050, Tamil Nadu) defeated her co-leader Arpita Amey Patnakar (1093, Gujrat) to take sole lead with 6.5/7. There are 4 more rounds left, Round 8 starts on 30th December, 9:30 AM IST. Thumbnail: Himank Ghosh

Aarav Sarbalia takes the sole lead in Open

After the end of Round 6, there were 4 players with 5.5 points each: Niroshan Thanikachalam, Aarav Sarbalia, Madhvendra Pratap Sharma and Aarav A. In the round 7 game between Madhavendra and Aarav A, a draw happened, so both moved to 6 points each. But Aarav Sarbalia (1458, Karnataka) was the one who defeated Niroshan Thanikachalam (1283, TN), thus moving to 6.5/7 and taking the sole lead in the Open section.

MPL National U9 Round 7 Open: Niroshan Thanikachalam - Aarav Sarbalia : 0-1

Board no.2: Niroshan Thanikachalam (left) vs Aarav Sarbalia (right)

In a balanced Rook and minor piece endgame, Aarav suddenly found a very nice tactical sequence to cause serious troubles in white's position.

Position after 27. Nd2?

While this move does look innocuous with the idea of rerouting the White knight to e4, it is actually a serious mistake because of 27...Ba6! This starts off a whole chain of tactics involving the pin on the d2-knight. 28.Rd1 is the logical response, which is met by 28...Nb6! 29.Rc2 Rd6 (with the idea of increasing the pressure on the pinned knight) 30. Bg3 Rd7 31. Kf1 and now,

31...c4 hits the nail in the coffin! There are way too many pins across the board for White to hold on to his pieces - the main threat is now ...c3 which is unstoppable.

Aarav won the imprisoned d7 knight in a few more moves, and went on to win the game comfortably.

Saideep Suman - Cyrus Eldho: 0-1

This was the shortest game of the Open section in Round 7. In a very sharp position out of the Sicilian Dragon, Saideep Suman (1407, Karnataka) missed a nice tactical skirmish which his opponent Cyrus Eldho (1322, Kerala) spotted well.

18...gxh5 was a critical error by Saideep - he completely missed that after 19.Bxd4, Bxd4 is not possible due to ...Bf5!

Since it is not possible to recapture the Bishop and a mating attack is brewing, Cyrus won the game with the picturesque 18...Bxd4 19. hxg6 Bf5 20. Qxd4 Rxc2+ 21. Kb1 Rc1#.

Double check and mate!

Round 7 Girls: Sharvaanica A S - Arpita Amey Patnakar: 1-0

Board no.4 - Sharvaanica A S (left) vs Arpita Amey Patnakar (right)

Facing the KID with the White pieces, the game between Sharvaanica A S (1050, TN) and Arpita Amey Patnakar (1093, Gujrat) was balanced for a long time. A misjudgement of the position happened by Arpita quite late in the middlegame:

Position after 32...Qxb3

32...Qxb3 actually underestimates the play White can get on the Kingside - much better would've been ...Kg7, protecting the h6-pawn first. Sharvaanica correctly continued 33. Qxh6, and now Black played the tricky and most resilient defence - 33...Rxf3!?

White to play, how will you continue?

Sharvaanica found the brilliant and necessary intermezzo 34.Qxg6+!. It is important not to play Rxf3, because after ...Qxf3 Black has perpetual check threats with Qf2+ and Qf3+. But after 34. Qxg6+ there is no such problem - White now takes back that Rook on f3 with a series of checks, starting with 35. Qxd6+ followed by checks on g5 and h5. Black resigned soon afterwards.

Aarohi Mathur - Bhumika Suresh Waghle: 0-1

Board no.5: Bhumika Suresh Waghle (left) vs Aarohi Mathur (right)

Aarohi Mathur (1190, Telangana) actually had a great position out of the opening against Bhumika Suresh Waghle (1182, Maharashtra). But a few inaccurate moves and the advantage of lost. In the major piece endgame, Aarohi made the final mistake:

Position after 33. Qg6

This was Aarohi's last chance to escape from a tight spot - Qxe2 Rxe2 Rxb7 would've actually led to an equal position. But after 33. Qg6, Black has the very nice 33...Rf6! forcing the trade of queens and winning the a2-pawn next. This was the last game of the round to finish, and Bhumika went on to convert the Rook+2 pawns vs Rook ending to a win without any issues.

Flawless conversion of Rook + 2 pawns against Rook | Aarohi (1190) vs Bhumika (1182) | Video: ChessBase India

Photo Gallery

A Giant Chess set is arranged just outside the playing hall - with livestream of the ongoing round in a giant screen!

The players come in to submit their results to the always helpful volunteers!

After the round ended, the players, arbiters and officials took a trip to Ujjain in multiple buses arranged by the Organizing committee!

U-2300 Amateur World Champion, FM Arvinder Preet Singh with his daughter's copy of Chesspa in Chess Adventure Park!

MPL 35th NATIONAL UNDER-9 OPEN & GIRLS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS – 2022 Day - 5 Round 7

Girls section Round 7 games

Open section Round 7 games

Standings after Round 7 (Open)

Rk.SNoNamesexRtgClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
12Aarav Sarbalia1458Karnataka6,53033,530,5006
21Madhvendra Pratap Sharma1585Madhya Pradesh63133,527,2505
313Aarav A1341Tamil Nadu6303327,0005
411Aaryan Amol Waghmare1350Maharashtra628,530,524,0006
58Aditya Shripad Joshi1368Maharashtra627,53126,2505
617Cyrus Eldho1322Kerala626,52925,0006
712ACMVishruth B1346Tamil Nadu625,528,524,0006
824Niroshan Thanikachalam1283Tamil Nadu5,53033,524,7505
932ACMBalanandan Ayyappan1267Kerala5,52830,521,7505
106Rahul Ramakrishnan1386Puducherry5,5273022,2505
1120Sayan Barua1293West Bengal5,5272922,2504
127Arjun Vasireddy1375Andhra Pradesh5,5262921,5005
1316Aarit Kapil1327Delhi5,5262920,7505
149R Nijesh1365Tamil Nadu5,525,528,521,5004
1522Aadhya Vijayakumar1290Tamil Nadu5,524,527,520,7505
164Avirat Chauhan1421Maharashtra5293221,0005
5Saideep Suman1407Karnataka5293221,0005
1844AFMMithun Pranav Praveen Kumar1217Tamil Nadu5273019,0005
1936Kiyan Kevalkumar Patel1244Gujarat52729,518,5005
2035Kushagra Paliwal1253Maharashtra526,529,518,7504

Full standings

Standings after Round 7 (Girls)

Rk.SNoNamesexRtgClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
130Sharvaanica A Sw1050Tamil Nadu6,530,532,530,0006
28Pratitee Bordoloiw1201Karnataka627,530,525,2505
315Shashini Puviw1130Karnataka626,529,524,5005
43Aadya Ranganathw1327Karnataka6262821,5006
510Bhumika Suresh Waghlew1182Maharashtra5,53033,524,5005
622Arpita Amey Patankarw1093Gujarat5,5282920,7505
721Samhita Pungavanamw1095Telangana5,5272920,5005
820Aadya Gowdaw1099Karnataka530,532,520,5004
962Divi Bijeshw0Kerala53033,522,2504
1016Bruhathi Kondisettiw1121Telangana5303219,7504
1158Deepthaashri Ravi Ganeshw0Tamil Nadu5293221,0005
122Vedika Vijaykumar Palw1362Maharashtra5272818,0004
1317AFMDiya Digamber Sawalw1115Goa525,52816,5005
1411Janaki Sdw1158Kerala5252818,7504
1576Leah R Josephw0Karnataka52426,519,0005
161Alankrita Sharmaw1419Jammu And Kashmir52426,517,0005
1718Yati Agarwalw1114Gujarat5232515,0005
1812Aahna Gulatiw1156Haryana522,524,515,5005
197Bhavanya Panchumarthiw1227Andhra Pradesh5212416,7504
2023Pooja Shree Rw1091Tamil Nadu4,5293218,2504

Full standings

Round 8 pairings (Girls)

Bo.No.NameRtgClub/CityPts.ResultPts.NameRtgClub/CityNo.
18Pratitee Bordoloi1201Karnataka6Sharvaanica A S1050Tamil Nadu30
23Aadya Ranganath1327Karnataka66Shashini Puvi1130Karnataka15
322Arpita Amey Patankar1093GujaratSamhita Pungavanam1095Telangana21
410Bhumika Suresh Waghle1182Maharashtra5Bhavanya Panchumarthi1227Andhra Pradesh7
517AFMDiya Digamber Sawal1115Goa55Alankrita Sharma1419Jammu And Kashmir1
62Vedika Vijaykumar Pal1362Maharashtra55Aadya Gowda1099Karnataka20
718Yati Agarwal1114Gujarat55Janaki Sd1158Kerala11
812Aahna Gulati1156Haryana55Divi Bijesh0Kerala62
976Leah R Joseph0Karnataka55Bruhathi Kondisetti1121Telangana16
109Aarohi Mathur1190Telangana5Deepthaashri Ravi Ganesh0Tamil Nadu58
114Shreya Rajesh1302KarnatakaToshi Janoti1051Uttar Pradesh29
1223Pooja Shree R1091Tamil NaduR V Pavithra0Tamil Nadu86
1326Ritisha Mayra Rajbongshi1072AssamIndusheetala Natarajan1032Karnataka35
1414Rishitha Narayanan1136Andhra Pradesh4Nirvi Jain0Telangana81
155Aaradhya Das1274Tripura44Kiyana Parihar1012Rajasthan39

Complete pairings

Round 8 pairing (Open)

Bo.No.NameRtgClub/CityPts.ResultPts.NameRtgClub/CityNo.
12Aarav Sarbalia1458Karnataka6ACMVishruth B1346Tamil Nadu12
28Aditya Shripad Joshi1368Maharashtra66Madhvendra Pratap Sharma1585Madhya Pradesh1
313Aarav A1341Tamil Nadu66Aaryan Amol Waghmare1350Maharashtra11
417Cyrus Eldho1322Kerala6Rahul Ramakrishnan1386Puducherry6
520Sayan Barua1293West BengalArjun Vasireddy1375Andhra Pradesh7
622Aadhya Vijayakumar1290Tamil NaduR Nijesh1365Tamil Nadu9
716Aarit Kapil1327DelhiACMBalanandan Ayyappan1267Kerala32
824Niroshan Thanikachalam1283Tamil Nadu5Saideep Suman1407Karnataka5
94Avirat Chauhan1421Maharashtra55Narendra Agarwal1219West Bengal43
1025Daniel Ajish1281Kerala55Mehul Sondhi1231Delhi39
1128Mithilesh P1270Andhra Pradesh55Kavyansh Jain1212Rajasthan47
1244AFMMithun Pranav Praveen Kumar1217Tamil Nadu55Vihaan Anupam Agrawal1264Maharashtra33
1351Krithik Muthukumar1203Tamil Nadu55Kushagra Paliwal1253Maharashtra35
1436Kiyan Kevalkumar Patel1244Gujarat55Nirvaan Nirav Shah1182Maharashtra59
1594Anish Ramkumar1093Tamil Nadu55Aarav Das1238Karnataka37

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 8 will be held on 30th December 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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