Ananya wins her maiden State title at her lucky venue
No matter what we do, a little bit of luck is required in almost everything. Capablanca has also said, "A good player is always lucky". Ananya escaped from the jaws of defeat, not once but twice, but in the end she came out victorious. Record books will only count that.
Ananya with the beautiful shining new trophy along with guests | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Ananya delivered her career best performance to achieve the most important and prestigious title she has won in her career
In an interview, Ananya talks about what it means to become State Women's Champion, how it was a dream come true moment for her and more.
Ananya's joy is evident from the way she has played the crown she has won | Video: Shahid Ahmed
Here is an annotated game by the Champion Ananya Bothra herself against Sudipa Haldar from the penultimate round:
Photo Gallery:
WIM Saheli Dhar Barua was conferred to a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions in chess | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Defending Champion and top seed of the tournament Samriddhaa Ghosh despite suffering a loss in round 5, had everything aligned for her in the last round. She just needed to win the final round game to retain the crown, but unfortunately she did not | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Second seeded Mohana Sengupta improved her performance in the tournament since last year | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Third seed Mehendi Sil delivered a consistent performance and finished at 3rd position, same as last year | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Last year's runner-up Pallabi Roy did not have the best tournament. Despite remaining undefeated throughout the tournament, too many draws cost her dearly | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Newly crowned National Schools Under-17 girls Champion, Diya Chowdhury improved her performance since last year to 5th position | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Dipali Roy is an inspiration to all players. She started learning chess formally after she retired from a school as headmistress. This was her first tournament after a little less than 3 months of training | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
The Tournament Hall | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Prize Distribution Ceremony Photos:
Runner-up - Sudipa Haldar 6.0/7, won ₹6000 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
2nd Runner-up - Mehendi Sil 5.5/7, received
₹4000 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
4th - Mohana Sengupta 5.5/7. She bagged
₹3000 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
5th - Diya Chowdhury 5.5/7.
She took home
₹2500 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
6th - Rajanya Dutta 5.5/7, received
₹2000 cash. She is also the current State under-11 girls champion. | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
7th - Samriddhaa Ghosh 5.0/7, won
₹1800 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
8th - Anwesha Saha 5.0/7, received
₹1700 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
9th - Debarpita Ghosh 5.0/7,
she took home
₹1600 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
10th - Vedika Agarwal 5.0/7, she won
₹1500 cash | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
11th - Pallabi Roy 5.0/7 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
12th - Nisha Bhushan 5.0/7. She is the only unrated player to finish in top 20 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
13th - Annika Das 5.0/7 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
14th - Sinthia Sarkar 5.0/7 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
15th - Srijita Sarkar 5.0/7 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
16th - Ishika Mondal 5.0/7 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
19th - Tanisha Chatterjee 4.5/7 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
20th - Anjistha Basak 4.5/7 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
For more photos, visit here
Video Gallery:
Starting moments of Round 1 | Video: Shahid Ahmed
Final moments of the Championship battle | Video: Shahid Ahmed
Final Standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 7 | Ananya Bothra | 1550 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 29,5 | 30,5 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Sudipa Haldar | 1654 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 30,0 | 34,0 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Mehendi Sil | 1823 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 29,5 | 32,5 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Mohana Sengupta | 1830 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 29,0 | 31,0 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Diya Chowdhury | 1763 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 28,5 | 32,5 | ||
| 6 | 9 | Rajanya Datta | U11 | 1484 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 26,5 | 29,5 | |
| 7 | 1 | Ghosh Samriddhaa | 1963 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 31,5 | 34,5 | ||
| 8 | 20 | Anwesha Saha | U13 | 1229 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 27,5 | 30,5 | |
| 9 | 12 | Debarpita Ghosh | 1319 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 26,5 | 29,5 | ||
| 10 | 13 | Vedika Agarwal | U13 | 1281 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 26,0 | 29,0 | |
| 11 | 4 | Roy Pallabi | 1797 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 26,0 | 28,5 | ||
| 12 | 70 | Nisha Bhushan | U11 | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 25,0 | 26,5 | |
| 13 | 11 | Das Annika | 1390 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 24,5 | 27,5 | ||
| 14 | 10 | Sinthia Sarkar | U13 | 1408 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 24,5 | 27,5 | |
| 15 | 19 | Srijita Sarkar | 1236 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 23,5 | 23,5 | ||
| 16 | 15 | Ishika Mondal | 1276 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 23,0 | 26,5 | ||
| 17 | 23 | Shreya Shree Bansal | U13 | 1199 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 28,0 | 30,0 | |
| 18 | 8 | Yash Jyoti Bir | U13 | 1507 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 28,0 | 29,5 | |
| 19 | 16 | Tanisha Chatterjee | U13 | 1263 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 27,5 | 30,5 | |
| 20 | 14 | Anjistha Basak | U11 | 1278 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 26,5 | 29,5 |
The tournament took place from 15th to 18th May 2019 at iLead Kolkata, organized by Kolkata District Chess Association and ILead with Woman Times.
