Photos Courtesy: Pondicherry State Chess Association
Smart Girl FIDE Rated – Pondicherry 2019 was a 9-round Swiss tournament. Open for female players only with trophies for top 10 places. It was held from 22 to 26 May at Arumuga Thirumana Mandapam, Pondicherry. Players received 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one.
Nanmalar A. of Tamil Nadu became champion with 8.5 points after winning her final round game with Daranya S of Pondicherry. Second place was bagged by top-seeded Subhiksha E, also from Tamil Nadu, with 6.5 points and the third position was secured by Rakghitha S M R with 6.5 points.
A total of 74 players participated in the tournament and 17 players were FIDE rated.
Final Ranking
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 3 | Nanmalar A | IND | 1197 | TN | 8,5 | 0,0 | 46,0 | 50,5 | |
| 2 | 1 | Subhiksha E | IND | 1438 | TN | 6,5 | 0,0 | 49,0 | 53,0 | |
| 3 | 13 | Rakghitha S M R | IND | 1053 | TN | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 50,5 | |
| 4 | 8 | Priyadharshni S | IND | 1142 | PON | 6,5 | 0,0 | 44,0 | 47,0 | |
| 5 | 15 | Shreya Meenakshi | IND | 1039 | PON | 6,5 | 0,0 | 43,0 | 47,0 | |
| 6 | 29 | Harini M C | IND | 0 | TN | 6,5 | 0,0 | 43,0 | 45,5 | |
| 7 | 4 | Daranya S | IND | 1173 | PON | 6,0 | 0,0 | 50,0 | 54,5 | |
| 8 | 6 | Kanishka S | IND | 1160 | TN | 6,0 | 0,0 | 50,0 | 54,0 | |
| 9 | 9 | Kashthuri Bhai R | IND | 1130 | AND | 6,0 | 0,0 | 49,5 | 52,0 | |
| 10 | 17 | Jeevika S | IND | 1012 | PON | 6,0 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 49,0 | |
| 11 | 11 | Dhaaniya T | IND | 1065 | PON | 6,0 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 49,5 | |
| 12 | 12 | Akshaya M | IND | 1054 | TN | 6,0 | 0,0 | 45,0 | 47,5 | |
| 13 | 32 | Harshini S | IND | 0 | TN | 6,0 | 0,0 | 41,5 | 46,0 | |
| 14 | 54 | Rupashri S | IND | 0 | PON | 6,0 | 0,0 | 40,0 | 40,5 | |
| 15 | 73 | Yogavarthanee R | IND | 0 | TN | 6,0 | 0,0 | 38,0 | 41,0 | |
| 16 | 28 | Geethanjali S | IND | 0 | TN | 6,0 | 0,0 | 36,0 | 40,0 | |
| 17 | 2 | Manickammal D | IND | 1271 | PON | 5,5 | 0,0 | 44,0 | 47,0 | |
| 18 | 46 | Nehaa B | IND | 0 | PON | 5,5 | 0,0 | 40,5 | 44,5 | |
| 19 | 51 | Priyadharshini Karpagakumar | IND | 0 | PON | 5,5 | 0,0 | 40,0 | 42,0 | |
| 20 | 71 | Varshaa M | IND | 0 | TN | 5,5 | 0,0 | 39,0 | 43,0 | |
| 21 | 10 | Bhathmalakshmi A | IND | 1085 | TN | 5,0 | 0,0 | 44,5 | 49,0 | |
| 22 | 7 | Hema Priya M | IND | 1157 | TN | 5,0 | 0,0 | 43,5 | 46,0 | |
| 23 | 14 | Kamalini Haradhana Nimban K | IND | 1040 | PON | 5,0 | 0,0 | 41,0 | 44,5 | |
| 24 | 64 | Sruthi R | IND | 0 | PON | 5,0 | 0,0 | 41,0 | 44,0 | |
| 25 | 57 | Saralvarsha M | IND | 0 | PON | 5,0 | 0,0 | 40,5 | 42,5 |
To promote chess amongst girls, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in association with All India Chess Federation has come up with Smart Girls Chess initiative. The salient features being FIDE Rated tournament with an entry fee of Rs.250 only.
