Mumbai: India produced its best-ever show at the World Youth Chess Championships as the nation bagged seven medals, with the 14-year-old R Praggnanandhaa providing the golden touch to the overall success.
The Grand Master from Chennai, who was the under-8 champion in 2013 and the under-10 winner in 2015, played carefully and managed to eke out a cautious draw in the 11th and final round against Valentin Buckels (Germany) to top the charts with 9 points and emerge as the winner of the Under-18 Open, here in Mumbai on Saturday.
“I didn’t have a (single) game plan or a strategy (before coming here), I was just trying to play my best and prepare for every round accordingly,” Praggnanandhaa said while talking to The Free Press Journal.
As the World Youth Chess Championships conclude, Praggnanandhaa said he will now assess his performance in this championship and go for a bigger challenge at World Juniors (Under-20) to be held in New Delhi next week. “I will look back at this tournament and will try to improve my game as I will be playing the World Junior in Delhi later this month.” The Championship ended on a high note for India, with six other medals, including three silver, coming their way.
Winners
U18 Open: Praggnanandhaa R (IND) 9.0; Shant Sargsyan (ARM) 8.5; Artur Davtyan (ARM) 8.0. U18 Girls: Polina Shuvalova (RUS) 8.5; Vantika Agrawal (IND) 8.0; Alexandra Obolentseva (RUS) 7.5. U16 Open: Rudik Makarian (RUS) 8.5; Stefan Pogosyan (RUS) 8.0; Aronyak Ghosh (IND) 8,0. U16 Girls: Leya Garifullina (RUS) 8.5; Nurgali Nazerke (KAZ) 8.5; Anousha Mahdian (IRI) 8.0. U14 Open: Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) 9.0; Srihari L R (IND) 8.0; Sreeshwan Maralakshikari (IND) 8.0. U14 Girls: Meruert Kamalidenova (KAZ) 8.5; Divya Deshmukh (IND) 8.0; Rakshitta Ravi (IND) 8,0.
Key Results after Round 11
U18 Open: Praggnanandhaa R (IND, 9) drew with Valentin Buckels (GER, 7.5); Arjun Kalyan (IND, 7.5) drew with Shant Sargsyan (ARM, 8.5); Artur Davtyan (ARM, 8) bt Aryan Gholami (IRI, 7.5); Viktor Gazik (SVK, 6.5) lost to Wang Shixu B (CHN, 7.5)
U18 Girls: Assel Serikbay (KAZ, 7.5) drew with WIM Polina Shuvalova (RUS, 8.5); Alexandra Obolentseva (RUS, 7.5) drew with Vantika Agrawal (IND, 8);
Munkhzul Turmunkh (MGL, 7) drew with Nomindalai Tumurbaatar (MGL, 7)
U16 Open: Stefan Pogosyan (RUS, 8) drew with Rudik Makarian (RUS, 8.5); Arash Daghli (IRI, 8) drew with Aronyak Ghosh (IND, 8); Cardoso Cardoso Jose Gabriel (COL, 8) bt Hans Moke Niemann (USA, 7); Kazybek Nogerbek (KAZ, 7) drew with Kushagra Mohan (IND, 7.5)
U16 Girls: Govhar Beydullayeva (AZE, 8) bt Nurgali Nazerke (KAZ, 8.5); Leya Garifullina (RUS, 8.5) drew with Svitlana Demchenko (CAN, 7.5); Kamaliya Bulatova (RUS, 7.5) drew with Zhang Xiao (CHN, 7.5); BM Akshaya (IND, 7) lost to Anousha Mahdian (IRI, 8)
U14 Open: Sultan Amanzhol (KAZ, 7) lost to Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 9); Vo Pham Thien Phuc (VIE, 8) drew with Srihari L R (IND, 8); Marc Morgunov (AUT, 8) drew with Alex Kolay (USA, 8); Abinandhan R (IND, 7.5) lost to S Maralakshikari (IND, 8)
U14 Girls: Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (MGL, 8) lost to Rakshitta Ravi (IND, 8); Kamalidenova Meruert (KAZ, 8.5) bt Eline Roebers (NED, 7.5); Divya Deshmukh (IND, 8) bt Ekaterina Nasyrova (RUS, 7.5); Ayan Allahverdiyeva (AZE, 8) bt Bhagyashree Patil (IND, 7).
