Six new champions crowned at 11th National Amateur Chess Championships 2024

by Shahid Ahmed - 25/02/2024

The eleventh edition of National Amateur Chess Championships 2024 witnessed a total participation of 620 players from 27 different states, union territories and units across the nation. Six new champions were crowned in six different rating categories. They are: Shreyas (DEL) - Below 1700 Open, Ruhani Raj Asudani (GUJ) - Below 1700 Women, Devansh Shah (MAH) - Below 2000 Open, Saniya Rafique Tadavi (MAH) - Below 2000 Women, Harish Sharma (DEL) - Below 2300 Open and Shanmathi Sree S (TN) in Below 2300 Women. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹300000. It was organized by Jaipur District Chess Association at Sawai Man Singh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur, Rajasthan from 13th to 17th February 2024. Photo: IA Asit Baran Choudhury

Shreyas, Saniya, Harish and Shanmathi are the four unbeaten champions

This was the first National title for all six champions. Delhi and Maharashtra won two Gold medals each. However, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu won the highest number of medals - four each, combining all six categories.

Champions of 11th National Amateur Chess Championships 2024 | Photo: IA Asit Baran Choudhury

Delhi and Maharashtra won two Golds, however, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu won four medals each

Below 1700 Open

16-year-old Shreyas (DEL) scored an unbeaten 8/9 to clinch the Below 1700 Open championship. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. This is his first rating tournament triumph of his career. Six players - Vedant Rupeshbhai Varasada (GUJ), Prawin K (TN), Rutherford S (TN), Omkar Shelke (MAH), Sahil Bheron (HAR) and Utkarsh Agrawal (MP) scored 7.5/9 each. They were placed second to seventh respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund for the Below 1700 category was ₹80000. Top three prizes were ₹12000 + trophy, ₹9000 and ₹7000 cash each respectively.

Champion in Below 1700 Open - Shreyas (DEL) 8/9 | Photo: Matrix Chess Academy

Shreyas (DEL) scored an unbeaten 8/9, finished a half point ahead of the rest and gained 70 Elo rating points

A total of 308 players participated in the Below 1700 Open section.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	18		Shreyas	IND	1556	Delhi	8	51	55	48,00	7
2	26		Vedant Rupeshbhai Varasada	IND	1530	Gujarat	7,5	51,5	55,5	43,75	7
3	11		Prawin K	IND	1619	Tamil Nadu	7,5	51	54,5	44,00	6
4	1	AGM	Rutherford S	IND	1678	Tamil Nadu	7,5	50,5	55	44,75	7
5	32		Shelke Omkar	IND	1507	Maharashtra	7,5	50	54	41,00	6
6	12		Sahil Bheron	IND	1619	Haryana	7,5	49,5	54	44,50	7
7	24		Utkarsh Agrawal	IND	1540	Madhya Pradesh	7,5	48	51	40,25	7
8	20		Tanna Krish Alpeshbhai	IND	1549	Gujarat	7	50	55	41,00	6
9	58		Pranav Ganesh Prabhu	IND	1389	Tamil Nadu	7	50	53	39,50	6
10	25		C R Ritvik	IND	1530	Telangana	7	47	50,5	38,75	5

Details

Below 1700 Women

The reigning Gujarat State Under-13 Girls champion, Ruhani Raj Asudani scored 7.5/9 to win 11th National Amateur Chess Championship Below 1700 for Women. Despite losing her sixth round game, Ruhani won her next two games and drew the last game to become champion. Sananda R (TN) scored sole 7/9 to secure second place. Five players - Arpita Patankar (GUJ), Rashmika Maringanti (MAH), Radhika Sharma (HAR), Akshaya Sathi (KAR) and Swarali Kothe (MAH) scored 6.5/9 each. They were placed third to seventh according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund for the Below 1700 category was ₹80000. Top three prizes were ₹8000 + trophy, ₹6000 and ₹5000 cash each respectively.

Champion in Below 1700 Women - Ruhani Raj Asudani (GUJ) 7.5/9

Ruhani Raj Asudani scored 7.5/9, finished a half point ahead of the competition and increased her Elo rating by 69.2 points

A total of 65 players participated in the Below 1700 Women section.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	4	AFM	Asudani Ruhani Raj	w	IND	1444	Gujarat	7,5	48	50	40,75	7
2	9		Sananda R	w	IND	1360	Tamil Nadu	7	44,5	48,5	36,75	6
3	7		Arpita Patankar	w	IND	1372	Gujarat	6,5	48	50,5	35,25	5
4	3		Rashmika Maringanti	w	IND	1448	Maharashtra	6,5	47	51	34,25	6
5	14		Radhika Sharma	w	IND	1297	Haryana	6,5	46	47,5	33,75	5
6	1		Akshaya Sathi	w	IND	1652	Karnataka	6,5	45,5	50	33,75	6

Details

Below 2000 Open

Devansh Shah (MAH) scored 7.5/9 to become champion in the Below 2000 Open category. He finished a half point ahead of the field. This is his first rating tournament victory. Despite a second round loss, Devansh made a strong comeback by scoring 6.5/7 in his next seven games. Prithvi Sharma (HAR), Yashad Bambeshwar (CHHT) and Alluri Bhaskara Ratna Shanmukha Reddy (AP) scored 7/9 each. They were placed second, third and fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund for the Below 2000 category was ₹100000. Top three prizes were ₹16000 + trophy, ₹14000 and ₹10000 cash each respectively.

Champion in Below 2000 Open - Devansh Shah (MAH) 7.5/9

Devansh Shah scored 7.5/9, finished a half point ahead of the rest and gained 31.6 Elo rating points

A total of 109 players participated in the Below 2000 Open section.

Final standings in Open

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	21	Shah Devansh	IND	1697	Maharashtra	7,5	44,5	48	39,75	7
2	18	Prithvi Sharma	IND	1720	Haryana	7	48,5	51	38,00	6
3	16	Yashad Bambeshwar	IND	1739	Chhattisgarh	7	45	48,5	37,00	6
4	13	Alluri Bhaskara Ratna Shanmukha Reddy	IND	1751	Andhra Pradesh	7	44	48	37,25	5
5	26	Joshi Abhijeet	IND	1682	Maharashtra	6,5	49	52,5	35,75	4
6	35	Mehul Sondhi	IND	1595	Delhi	6,5	45	48,5	32,75	5
7	15	Kherdekar Arnav	IND	1739	Maharashtra	6,5	44,5	48,5	33,75	5
8	33	Arnav Agrawal	IND	1630	Uttar Pradesh	6,5	44,5	47	29,50	6
9	9	Sharma Vivek	IND	1789	Bihar	6,5	42,5	46,5	34,75	5
10	17	Jashanpreet Singh	IND	1730	Punjab	6,5	39,5	43	31,00	6

Details

Below 2000 Women

The reigning Maharashtra State Women 2023 champion, Saniya Rafique Tadavi dominated the field with an unbeaten 8.5/9. She finished a staggering two points ahead of the competition. Top seed of the category, Kirthika B (TEL) scored 6.5/9 to finish second. Five players - Drishtee Ghosh (KAR), Varshita Jain (MP), Arushi Severin Helen D Silva (KAR), Smaraki Mohanty (ODI) and Surbhi (HAR) scored 6/9 each. They were placed third to seventh respectively. The total prize fund for the Below 2000 category was ₹100000. The top three prizes were ₹10000 + trophy, ₹6000 and ₹5000 cash each respectively.

Champion in Below 2000 Women - Saniya Rafique Tadavi (MAH) 8.5/9

Saniya Rafique Tadavi scored 8.5/9, finished a massive two points ahead of the rest and gained 55.6 Elo rating points

A total of 25 players participated in the Below 2000 Women section.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo	Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	4	Saniya Rafique Tadavi	w	IND	1535	Maharashtra	8,5	46	49	46,50	8
2	1	Kirthika B	w	IND	1659	Telangana	6,5	48,5	53	35,50	5
3	3	Drishtee Ghosh	w	IND	1587	Karnataka	6	47	50	29,75	5
4	9	Varshita Jain	w	IND	1416	Madhya Pradesh	6	45	49	29,50	6
5	5	Arushi Severin Helen D Silva	w	IND	1483	Karnataka	6	44,5	48	27,75	5
6	2	Smaraki Mohanty	w	IND	1647	Odisha	6	44,5	47,5	28,50	5

Details

Below 2300 Open

Harish Sharma (DEL) scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win the Below 2300 Open event. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. Top seed Kartavya Anadkat (GUJ) scored 7.5/9 to secure second place. Sunny Bedi (RAJ) scored 7/9 to finish third. The total prize fund for the Below 2300 category was ₹120000. Top three prizes were ₹20000 + trophy, ₹17000 and ₹14000 cash each respectively.

Champion in Below 2300 Open - Harish Sharma (DEL) 8/9

Harish Sharma scored an unbeaten 8/9 to become champion in Below 2300 Open, finished a half point ahead of the rest and gained 39.4 Elo rating points

A total of 97 players participated in the Below 2300 Open section.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	8		Sharma Harish	IND	1837	Delhi	8	47	50,5	44,00	7
2	1		Anadkat Kartavya	IND	2173	Gujarat	7,5	49,5	54,5	43,25	7
3	15		Sunny Bedi	IND	1730	Rajasthan	7	45,5	49,5	35,50	6
4	11		Mrityunjay Kumar	IND	1800	Bihar	6,5	51	55	37,50	5
5	4		Peter Anand A	IND	2031	Puducherry	6,5	49,5	54	37,25	5
6	13		Gautam Kataria	IND	1743	Rajasthan	6,5	45,5	50	35,75	5
7	3	FM	Singh Arvinder Preet	IND	2057	Punjab	6,5	45,5	47,5	32,75	6
8	27		Gadhavi Veerbhadrasinh	IND	1651	Gujarat	6,5	38,5	42	29,25	6
9	26		Devansh Singh	IND	1652	Madhya Pradesh	6	46	49,5	29,50	5
10	6		Kumar S.	IND	1959	Tamil Nadu	6	45	48,5	29,75	5

Details

Below 2300 Women

The 12th National Schools Under-13 Girls second runner-up, Shanmathi Sree S (TN) scored an unbeaten 6/7 to become champion in Below 2300 Women category. She finished a full point ahead of the competition. WCM Sasvatha A (TN) scored 5/7 to secure second place. Four players - Shivamshika G (TEL), WFM Tanishka Kotia (HAR), Kashthuri Bhai R (A and N) and WCM Prishita Gupta (DEL) scored 4.5/7 each. They were placed third to sixth respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund for the Below 2300 category was ₹120000. The top three prizes were ₹10000 + trophy, ₹6000 and ₹5000 cash each.

Champion in Below 2300 Women - Shanmathi Sree S (TN) 6/7

Shanmathi Sree S scored an unbeaten 6/7, finished a full point ahead of others and gained 92 Elo rating points

A total of 16 players participated in the Below 2300 Women section.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	6	AFM	Shanmathi Sree S	w	IND	1600	Tamil Nadu	6	25,5	27,5	23,75	5
2	4	WCM	Sasvatha A	w	IND	1749	Tamil Nadu	5	23	24	12,50	5
3	9		Shivamshika G	w	IND	1465	Telangana	4,5	28,5	31,5	18,25	4
4	2	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	w	IND	1787	Haryana	4,5	27,5	31	19,50	3
5	7		Kashthuri Bhai R	w	IND	1590	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	4,5	27	28	15,50	3
6	3	WCM	Prishita Gupta	w	IND	1762	Delhi	4,5	22,5	25,5	14,50	4

Details

Group photo of various prize winners | Photo: AICF

The Arbiters' team

A total of 308 in Below 1700 Open, 65 in Below 1700 Women, 109 in Below 2000 Open, 25 in Below 2000 Women, 97 in Below 2300 Open and 16 in Below 2300 Women took part from various states across the country. The five-day nine-round (seven in Below 2300 Women) tournament was organized by Jaipur District Chess Association from 13th to 17th February 2024 at Sawai Man Singh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The time control for the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.