Priansh, Shefali Win Under-7 Titles

 Priansh, Shefali Win Under-7 Titles
By Arvind Aaron

Priansh Das of Odisha and A.N. Shefali of Karnataka won the National Under-7 Chess Championships that concluded at Puducherry on Sep 27, 2016.

Fifth seed Priansh Das and Ilamparthi (TN) tied for first place with 9.5/11. In the dramatic final round game, Priansh won with the black pieces against leader Ilamparthi to tie for first and take the title on tie-break.

Shefali lost the first round to less known R Mahati and won the next ten games in a row to win the event with 10/11. She finished one point ahead of the others on course.

Pondicherry State Association has been organising one National age group every year and is one of the active small states. The Arumuga Thirumananilayam, M.G.Road, Puducherry was the venue again for this event.

The top finishers will represent India in the Under-8 World and Asian events of 2017. Senior arbiter Prof R Anantharam was the chief arbiter for this event.

Final placings:

Open: 1-2. Priansh Das (Odi), A.R. Ilamparthi (TN) 9.5/11; 3-4. Daaevik Wadhawan (Del), Sriansh Das (Odi) 9 each; 5 Sparsh Bishi (Har) 8.5; 6-16. Bagat Kush (Mah), Aarav Lakhani (Mah), Jaiveer Mahendru (Mah), Inban Sivakumar (TN), P Sai Rishiraj (Tel), K.H. Mitul (Kar), Aryan Mohapatra (Odi), Apoorv Kamble (Kar), Abhyuday Santhosh (Kar), G Aakash (TN), Aarav Dengla (Mah) 8 each…182 players.

Girls: 1 WCM A.N. Shefali (Kar) 10/11; 2 Sneha Halder (WB) 9; 3-5. Suhaani Lohia (Mah), Sarvani Cheedella (AP), Sani Deshpande (Mah) 8.5; 6-11. Ishani Mondal (WB), Ananya Sushree Ray (Odi), Sanjana Nagarajan (TN), Arushi Srichandan (Odi), Aswinika Mani R (TN) 8 each…119 players.