WGM P. V. Nandhidhaa of Tamil Nadu emerged as the winner of the 50th India National Women’s Chess Championship. The competition, an 11-round Swiss tournament, took place in Chettinadu Public School from October 3-13, 2024. The event brought together 150 best female India’s players from all across the country (except for the members of the golden Olympiad team) and saw a thrilling finale.
The tournament was a tight race, with the top-rated players taking turns on the top of the standings. Going into the final 11th round, Nandhidhaa and J Saranya were jointly leading the field with 8/10, closely followed by a big group of players on 7.5/10.
P. V. Nandhidhaa outplayed Priyanka Nutakki of Andhra Pradesh on the top board and clinched her maiden national title with an impressive score of 9 points as her main rival Saranya, J suffered a defeat at the hands of IM Rout Padmini.
Three players tied for second place netting 8.5/10 with K Priyanka and Padmini Rout earning silver and bronze respectively, thanks to superior Buchholz.
Final standings:
|
1 |
WGM |
Nandhidhaa, P V |
2322 |
9 |
|
2 |
WIM |
Priyanka, K |
2075 |
8½ |
|
3 |
IM |
Padmini, Rout |
2328 |
8½ |
|
4 |
WGM |
Kiran, Manisha |
2030 |
8½ |
|
5 |
WFM |
Saranya, J |
2048 |
8 |
|
6 |
WIM |
Chitlange, Sakshi |
2188 |
8 |
|
7 |
WGM |
Gomes, Mary Ann |
2298 |
8 |
|
8 |
WGM |
Varshini, V |
2142 |
8 |
|
9 |
WGM |
Rakshitta, Ravi |
2322 |
8 |
|
10 |
IM |
Kulkarni, Bhakti |
2363 |
8 |
The awarding ceremony was attended by IAS Ayush Venkat Vats, Sub-Collector of Devakottai, who praised India’s recent double medal-winning performance at the Chess Olympiad and expressed hope for the continued development of chess talents through such tournaments. Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary of TNSCA, S. P. Kumaresan, Chairman of Chettinadu Public School, and K. Arunkumar, Vice Chairman, were also present, with Kumaresan emphasizing that this tournament would remain a memorable event for the participants
Photos: Deepti S
Official website: https://aicf.in/
