Nandish and Shanmathi are Tamil Nadu State Under-17 2024 Champions
V S Nandish and Shanmathi Sree S became Tamil Nadu State Under-17 Open and Girls 2024 Champions. Nandish scored an unbeaten 8/9 and finished a half point ahead of the field. S Gokul Krishna, S Haridev and N R Jaidambareesh scored 7.5/9 each. They secured second to fourth place respectively. In the Girls event, Shanmathi scored sole 7.5/9 to become the champion. Six girls - S Kanishka, S Padmini, Theephigaa K P, K Sindhusree, R Charudharshini and P Janani scored 7/9 each. They were placed second to seventh according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹50000, ₹25000 for each event. The top three prizes were ₹5000 + trophy, ₹4000 + trophy and ₹3500 each. The five-day rating tournament was organized by Sivakasi Chess Club and Sethu Institute of Technology at Sethu Institute of Technology in Kariapatti, Tamil Nadu from 1st to 5th May 2024. This is Nandish's first rating and third overall tournament triumph of the year. For Shanmathi, it is her third overall and second rating tournament victory after she won National Amateur Below 2300 Women earlier this year. Photos: R Anantharam
Two clear champions
V S Nandish of Coimbatore and S Shanmathi Sree of Chennai annexed the Tamil Nadu State Under-17 Chess Championship titles for Open and Girls categories respectively. The tournaments were organised by Sivakasi Chess Club and Sethu Institute of Technology, Kariapatti. Both Nandish and Shanmathi became undisputed champions scoring eight and 7.5 points, half a point ahead of the nearest field.
S Gokul Krishna of Tirupur, S Haridev of Chennai and N R Jaidambareesh of Nagercoil scored 7.5 points each and finished second to fourth respectively.
Among the girls, seven players collected six points each to tie for the second to seventh places. S Kanishka of Salem and S Padmini of Chengalpattu pipped others with better tiebreak data to clinch the second and third places respectively.
The top two finishers in both categories will represent Tamil Nadu in the National championship.
The runner up of the 2023 edition S Jaisankar of Virudhunagar drew with Kavin Vijayakumar of Madurai in the final round and had to be content with the fifth place. Kavin collected the eighth rank.
National Schools Under-17 champion - R Shadhurshhaan also of Virudhunagar district lost his podium chances, when he was shocked by Dharshan Saastha in the seventh round. Dharshan was placed sixth.
After seven consecutive wins Nandish settled for two draws against S Rohith and the second placed Gokul in the final two rounds to make sure of his title.
The speciality of the girls’ section was that both top two seeds Keerti and Shanmathi lost in the fourth round. After three more wins, Keerthi drew and lost in the final two rounds to get the eighth rank. But Shanmathi had four wins and a draw against Kanishka in the remaining five games to run away with the title.
Ms. Nilofer Fathima, Preisdent Madurai DCA and Seeni Mohamed Aliar Maraikkayar, JCEO of Sethu Institute of Technology inaugurated the tournament in the presence of P Pragadesh, Joint Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.
Sethu Institute of Technology, situated about 15 km from Madurai airport is a constant supporter of chess. Two years back, it organised the Tamil Nadu State Under-15 Chess Championships successfully. The whole family of management evinces interest in chess.
The chairman of SIT S Mohamed Jaleel is a chess lover and instrumental in organising a plethora of chess activities in the college campus. His outstanding service to the rural people has crowned him with many awards like Communal Harmony Award, Best Administrator Award and Maamanithar Award etc.
CEO SM Seeni Mohaideen MBA is a great sports lover and he was also the president of Tamil Nadu State Football Association for several years. His Sethu football club is a professional team for women.
Ms. S M Nilofer Fathima MBA (PhD), Director of SIT, is an inspiration for chess levers in and around Madurai. After she became the president of Madurai District Chess Association in 2023, many innovations and incentives have been brought into Madurai district chess activities.
Some of the incentives announced by the district association are: 1) State champions from the Madurai district will be given airfare to participate in the National Championships 2) state champions from Madurai district will get a cash incentive of Rs.10000, national champions - Rs. 25000, IMs - Rs.75000 and GMs - Rs. 100000.
SM Seeni Mohamed Aliar Maraikkayar MBA possesses excellent problem-solving skills and astute leadership qualities, maybe because of the influence of chess.
Dr. S M Nazia Fathima, M.E., Ph.D., the Director (R & D) is a prominent scholar, having a vision to fortify the institution. She shows a lot of interest in the chess activities of the institution.
A total of 221 in the Open and 94 in the Girls participated from various districts across Tamil Nadu in this five-day nine round Under-17 Rating Open and Girls tournaments. It was organized by Sivakasi Chess Club and Sethu Institute of Technology at Sethu Institute of Technology in Kariapatti, Tamil Nadu from 1st to 5th May 2024. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.
Final standings in Open
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | Gr | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Nandish, V S | 3898CBE2024 | IND | 1900 | Coimbatore | 8 | 52,5 | 56,5 | 49,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 2 | 11 | Gokul, Krishna S | 7618TPR2024 | IND | 1882 | Tiruppur | 7,5 | 53 | 57 | 46,00 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Haridev, S | 3718CHE2024 | IND | 1929 | Chennai | 7,5 | 49,5 | 54 | 42,25 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 4 | 12 | Jaidambareesh, N R | 5039KKI2024 | IND | 1862 | Kanyakumari | 7,5 | 49 | 52 | 41,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Jai, Sankar Subramanian | 9131VNR2024 | IND | 1983 | Virudhunagar | 7 | 52,5 | 57 | 42,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6 | 24 | Darshan, Sasthaa M | 7891TLR2024 | IND | 1737 | Tiruvallur | 7 | 49,5 | 53,5 | 38,50 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 35 | Stanley, Blessing J V | 9693TUT2024 | IND | 1682 | Thoothukudi | 7 | 47,5 | 50 | 37,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Kavin, Vijayakumar | 5550MDU2024 | IND | 1982 | Madurai | 7 | 47 | 51 | 39,00 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 9 | 14 | Rohith, S | 6780SIV2024 | IND | 1857 | Sivagangai | 6,5 | 51 | 55,5 | 37,25 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 10 | 19 | Goutham, Ramesh | 2399CHE2024 | IND | 1777 | Chennai | 6,5 | 50 | 53,5 | 36,50 | 0 | 5 |
Final standings in Girls
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | Gr | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | AFM | Shanmathi, Sree S | 24410CHE2024 | IND | 1848 | Chennai | 7,5 | 49,5 | 54,5 | 44,50 | 0 | 7 | |
| 2 | 3 | Kanishka, S | 6612SLM2024 | IND | 1842 | Salem | 7 | 52 | 55,5 | 41,50 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Padmini, S | 1313CGL2024 | IND | 1798 | Chengalpattu | 7 | 51,5 | 55 | 40,50 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 9 | AFM | Theephigaa, K P | 2735CHE2024 | IND | 1745 | Chennai | 7 | 49 | 51 | 37,00 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 | 4 | Sindhusree, K | 2310CGL2024 | IND | 1825 | Chengalpattu | 7 | 48,5 | 52,5 | 38,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 18 | Charudharshini, R | 5560MDU2024 | IND | 1593 | Madurai | 7 | 47 | 51 | 37,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 7 | 23 | Janani, P | 9132VNR2024 | IND | 1559 | Virudhunagar | 7 | 45,5 | 47,5 | 34,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 8 | 1 | WFM | Keerti, Shree Reddy | 23961CGL2024 | IND | 1932 | Chengalpattu | 6,5 | 50,5 | 54,5 | 37,00 | 0 | 6 | |
| 9 | 5 | ACM | Nivedita, V C | 2390CHE2024 | IND | 1804 | Chennai | 6,5 | 49 | 54 | 37,25 | 0 | 6 | |
| 10 | 15 | Pranavasri, S | 11122CHE2024 | IND | 1608 | Chennai | 6,5 | 42,5 | 43,5 | 28,75 | 0 | 6 |
Links
About the Author
Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
