The inauguration - A colourful start!

The RDO of Sivagangai District,  Shri. Sankaranarayanan inaugurated the event along with Honourable Vice President of FIDE, Shri. DV Sundar and AICF Secretary Shri. Bharat Singh Chauhan. The occasion was also graced by the presence of Shri. RM Dongre, President Asian Zone 3.7; Shri Balaji, Tehsildar Karaikudi Town; Shri. Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary Tamil Nadu State Chess Association; Shri SP Kumaresan, Chairman Chettinad Public School and Shri Arun Kumar, Vice Chairman Chettinad Public School.

 

The event started off with an vibrant opening ceremony!

There are 97 International Rated Chess players from 23 States/Affiliated units competing in this event!

Most games begin with 1.e4 e5!!

The Games - Priyanka Nutakki, Swati Ghate, and Sakshi Chitlange suffer upsets

Shocking upsets came in the first round as Women International Master Priyanka Nutakki went down to Tamil Nadu's Senthamizh Yazhini, while Women Grandmaster Swati Ghate suffered defeat in the hands of 1538 rated Women Fide Master Bindu Sarith K. of the LIC.  Sakshi Chitlange lost to Ananya Arumbakkam.

Women International Master Priyanka Nutakki (2293) lost 18.4 rating points losing to her 1622 rated opponent | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

The former Women National Champion Swati Ghate will be looking to make a comeback in the subsequent rounds | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Another surprising result of the day came from Ananya Arumbakkam versus WIM Sakshi Chitlange, where the former a 1500 rated 13 years old player, outwitted her higher-rated opponent's Caro-Kann defense.

Almost all other top seeded players registered easy victories against their lower-rated opponents in the opening round. We bring you some more snaps of the players in action.

Bhakti Kulkarni, the defending champion, beat Ananya Bothra on the second board | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Soumya Swaminathan, the top seed of the event, defeated Nanditha V | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Fresh from her under-15 nationals victory, 13-year-old Divya Deshmukh is the third seed. She winning the national title at such a young age would surely be big news! Divya beat Ananya Vora on the third board with Black pieces | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Legendary IM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman defeated WCM Chinnam Vyshnavi | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Vantika Agrawal defeated Panda Miracle | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Mahalakshmi M. won against Nisha N. Patkar | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Nandhidhaa P V, who recently scored her IM norm at the Paracin Open 2019, won against Aishwarya | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Bagyashree Sathe Thipsay defeated Sneha Bharathakoti | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Results of round 1

Bo.No.NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtgNo.
153Nanditha V168700 - 10WGMSoumya Swaminathan24021
22WGMKulkarni Bhakti238801 - 00Ananya Bothra168154
355Vora Ananya167400 - 10WIMDivya Deshmukh23733
44IMVijayalakshmi Subbaraman235701 - 00WCMChinnam Vyshnavi166456
557Yash Jyoti Bir164600 - 10WIMSrija Seshadri23065
66WGMGomes Mary Ann230301 - 00Shriya R Revankar162758
759Senthamizh Yazhini S162201 - 00WIMPriyanka Nutakki22937
88WIMPratyusha Bodda226501 - 00Mudaliar Nandini160960
961Aishwarya160700 - 10WIMNandhidhaa P V22599
1010WIMVantika Agrawal224301 - 00Panda Miracle160562
1163Nisha N. Patkar159600 - 10WIMMahalakshmi M222711
1212WIMMichelle Catherina P222601 - 00Renganayaki V158364
1365Kavitha P L158000 - 10IMMohota Nisha222113
1414Priyanka K221701 - 00Rindhiya V157366
1567WFMBindu Saritha K.153801 - 00WGMSwati Ghate219215
1616WCMSharma Isha218801 - 00Arunika Ghosh153168
1769Ananya Arumbakkam150001 - 00WIMChitlange Sakshi216817
1818WGMMeenakshi Subbaraman216301 - 00Genita Gladys A145670
1971Anjitha Krishnakumar144000 - 10WIMParnali S Dharia214519
2020WFMJain Nityata213501 - 00Mishra Riya143072

 

Standings after round 1

k.SNoNameFEDRtgClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 w-we
11WGMSoumya SwaminathanIND2402PSPB1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
2WGMKulkarni BhaktiIND2388AI1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
3WIMDivya DeshmukhIND2373MAH1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
4IMVijayalakshmi SubbaramanIND2357AI1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
5WIMSrija SeshadriIND2306TN1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
6WGMGomes Mary AnnIND2303PSPB1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
8WIMPratyusha BoddaIND2265AP1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
9WIMNandhidhaa P VIND2259TN1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
10WIMVantika AgrawalIND2243DEL1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
11WIMMahalakshmi MIND2227RSPB1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
12WIMMichelle Catherina PIND2226TN1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
13IMMohota NishaIND2221PSPB1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
14Priyanka KIND2217TN1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
16WCMSharma IshaIND2188KAR1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
18WGMMeenakshi SubbaramanIND2163AI1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
19WIMParnali S DhariaIND2145MAH1,00,00,00,00,0010,08
20WFMJain NityataIND2135MP1,00,00,00,00,0010,08

A Contest!

The National women's championships 2019 is an exciting tournament with the best in Indian chess taking part. You have the experienced Soumya, Bhakti, Viji, Mary and others and at the same time you also have the young blood Divya, Srija, Vantika, Priyanka etc. It will be a highly interesting tournament to follow. Who do you think will win this and what will be winner's score. The one who gets both the things right will win three months of ChessBase Premium Account worth Rs.499/- from ChessBase India. Please let us know your answer in the comments section below. The contest ends on 20th of July 2019 midnight.