Six new champions crowned at MPL 10th National Amateur Chess Championship 2023

by Shahid Ahmed - 24/02/2023

The tenth edition of MPL National Amateur Chess Championships 2023 witnessed a total participation of 346 players from 21 different states, union territories and units across the nation. Six new champions were crowned in six different rating categories. They are - Sham R (TN) in Below 1700 Open, Sanchita Yadav (UP) in Below 1700 Women, Daksh Goyal (DEL) in Below 2000 Open, Rajanya Datta (WB) in Below 2000 Women, Amardeep Bartakke (MAH) in Below 2300 Open and Sneha Halder (WB) in Below 2300 Women. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹300000. It was held in Sangrur, Punjab from 18th to 22nd February 2023. Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Sham and Sneha are the only two unbeaten champions

Only Below 2000 category had a combined event for Open and Women as there were only eight women players. Sham R (TN) in Below 1700 Open and Sneha Halder (WB) in Below 2300 Women are the only two champions who remained undefeated. This is Sneha's second National triumph in a little over two months after she won National Under-13 Girls in December 2022.

Champions of MPL 10th National Amateur Chess Championships 2023 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Both West Bengal and Delhi won three medals each, however West Bengal won two Golds

Below 1700 Open

19-year-old Sham R (TN, 1563) scored an unbeaten 8/9 to clinch the Below 1700 Open championship. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. The teenager started the year by winning the 24th Tamil Nadu State Blitz championship 2023. Then he won two more state-level rapid tournaments. This is his fourth triumph of the year and first National championship of his career. Deepak Batra (PUN, 1683) and Aashish Choudhary (RAJ, 1670) scored 7.5/9 each. They were placed second and third according to tie-breaks. Top three prizes were ₹12000, ₹9000 and ₹7000 cash along with a trophy each respectively.

Champion in Below 1700 Open - Sham R (TN) 8/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Sham R (TN) 8/9 remained undefeated

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	19		Sham, R	IND	1563	Tamil Nadu	8	50,5	51,5	44,50	20	50,4
2	2		Deepak, Batra	IND	1683	Punjab	7,5	49	53,5	45,00	20	10,2
3	3		Aashish, Choudhary	IND	1670	Rajasthan	7,5	46	49,5	40,00	20	10,2
4	13		Aman, Kumar	IND	1598	Bihar	7	49,5	53	38,50	20	5,8
5	12		Shourya, Paul	IND	1602	West Bengal	7	46,5	51	38,00	40	18,8
6	21	AGM	Pathak, Anshu Kr	IND	1542	Uttar Pradesh	7	45,5	49,5	37,25	20	28,4
7	4		Farhaan, M	IND	1661	Tamil Nadu	7	45,5	49,5	37,00	20	-10,6
8	7		Sahil, Bheron	IND	1634	Haryana	7	44	47,5	35,50	20	9,6
9	8		Medhansh, Saxena	IND	1631	Uttar Pradesh	6,5	52	56,5	39,00	40	-15,6
10	53		Utkrisht, Tuli	IND	1368	Punjab	6,5	51	54	37,25	40	148,4

Details

Below 1700 Women

The reigning Uttar Pradesh State Senior Women champion, Sanchita Yadav (UP, 1348) scored 7.5/9 to win MPL 10th National Amateur Chess Championship Below 1700 for Women. Despite losing her second round game, Sanchita won her next six games. She drew her final round game against the top seed and eventual second runner-up, Amulya Guruprasad (TN, 1606), to become champion. Three players - Manasvi Sanikommu (KAR, 1482), Amulya and Tanya Verma (UP, 1384) scored 7/9 each. They were placed second to fourth according to tie-breaks. Top three prizes were ₹8000, ₹6000 and ₹5000 cash along with a trophy each respectively.

Champion in Below 1700 Women - Sanchita Yadav (UP) 7.5/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Runner-up in Below 1700 Women - Manasvi Sanikommu (KAR) 7/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Second Runner-up in Below 1700 Women - Amulya Guruprasad (TN) 7/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Sanchita Yadav scored 7.5/9, defeated the eventual runner-up Manasvi Sanikommu and drew against the second runner-up Amulya Guruprasad

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	10		Sanchita, Yadav	IND	1348	Uttar Pradesh	7,5	43,5	46	37,75	40	67,2
2	3	AFM	Sanikommu, Manasvi	IND	1482	Karnataka	7	51,5	54,5	40,00	40	38,4
3	1		Amulya, Guruprasad	IND	1606	Tamil Nadu	7	49	53	39,00	40	-22,8
4	8		Tanya, Verma	IND	1384	Uttar Pradesh	7	43	47,5	36,00	40	41,6
5	17		Daksha, Rudra	IND	1197	West Bengal	6,5	46,5	49,5	32,75	40	146,4
6	7		Aadhya, Jain	IND	1436	Delhi	6,5	45	48,5	30,75	40	15,6

Details

Below 2000 Open and Women

Three players - Daksh Goyal (DEL, 1739), Vivek Sharma (BIH, 1844) and Daaevik Wadhawan (DEL, 1905) scored 7/9 each. They were placed first, second and third according to tie-breaks. Top three prizes were ₹16000, ₹14000 and ₹10000 cash along with a trophy each respectively.

Champion in Below 2000 Open - Daksh Goyal (DEL) 7/9

Daksh Goyal scored 7/9 and gained 90 Elo rating points

Final standings in Open

Rk.	SNo	Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	16	Daksh, Goyal		IND	1658	Delhi	7	47	50,5	37,25	40	90
2	6	Sharma, Vivek		IND	1844	Bihar	7	44	47,5	36,75	20	-5,4
3	3	Daaevik, Wadhawan		IND	1905	Delhi	7	40,5	44	33,75	40	-19,2
4	20	Shah, Devansh		IND	1630	Maharashtra	6,5	47	49,5	32,00	20	53,8
5	21	Vikash, Nishad		IND	1619	Uttar Pradesh	6,5	44,5	47,5	32,75	20	52,4
6	4	Pradeep, Tiwari		IND	1892	Dascb	6,5	42	45,5	30,50	20	-28
7	14	Ranjith, R.K.		IND	1680	Tamil Nadu	6,5	39,5	43,5	30,50	20	15,8
8	19	Kumaresh, A		IND	1656	Tamil Nadu	6	47	51	32,75	20	31,6
9	9	Rahul, Kumar		IND	1789	Bihar	6	45	49,5	31,00	20	-15,6
10	30	Vibhaan,		IND	1454	Haryana	6	41	43,5	26,50	40	132,8

Details

Rajanya Datta (WB, 1613) scored 5/9 to finish first in the U-2000 Women's category. Despite losing three consecutive games between round 6 and 8, she won a crucial final round game to secure first place. Anahita Verma (PUN, 1380) and Hanya Shah (GUJ, 1302) scored 4/9 each. They were placed second and third respectively. The top three prizes were ₹10000, ₹6000 and ₹5000 cash along with a trophy each.

Champion in Below 2000 Women - Rajanya Datta (WB) 5/9

Runner-up in Below 2000 Women - Anahita Verma (PUN) 4/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Second Runner-up in Below 2000 Women - Hanya Shah (GUJ) 4/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Rajanya Datta scored 5/9 and gained 42 Elo rating points

Final standings in Women

19	22		Rajanya, Datta	w	IND	1613	West Bengal	5	44,5	48	24,50	40	42
33	36		Anahita, Verma	w	IND	1380	Punjab	4	41,5	44	15,00	40	16
37	45		Hanya, Shah	w	IND	1302	Gujarat	4	37,5	40,5	14,25	40	-7,6
41	39	AFM	Asudani, Ruhani Raj	w	IND	1336	Gujarat	4	32,5	34,5	14,25	40	16,8
50	47		Shivamshika, G	w	IND	1276	Telangana	3	32,5	34,5	7,75	40	-51,2
51	53		Tia, Bedi	w	IND	1060	Delhi	3	31	33,5	9,25	40	1,6

Details

Below 2300 Open

Amardeep Bartakke (MAH, 1994) started with a 50% score 1.5/3. After losing his third round game to the former World Amateur U2300 champion, FM Arvinder Preet Singh, he chained six consecutive wins to finish first 7.5/9. Vignesh Advaith Vemula (TEL, 1738) and Arpan Das (WB, 1943) scored 7/9 each. They were placed second and third each. Top three prizes were ₹20000, ₹17000 and ₹14000 cash along with a trophy each.

Champion in Below2300 Open - Amardeep Bartakke (MAH) 8/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Amardeep Bartakke won his last six games to become champion in Below 2300 Open

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	8		Bartakke, Amardeep S.	IND	1994	Maharashtra	7,5	44	47,5	38,50	20	8,8
2	13		Vignesh, Advaith Vemula	IND	1738	Telangana	7	47	51	38,50	40	139,6
3	10		Arpan, Das	IND	1943	West Bengal	7	45,5	49,5	37,75	20	34,4
4	2	FM	Prasannaa.S,	IND	2160	Tamil Nadu	6,5	50	54	36,25	20	-16
5	7		Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	IND	2042	Uttar Pradesh	6,5	48	52,5	36,25	40	-23,6
6	12		Majumder, Shrayan	IND	1808	Maharashtra	6,5	46,5	50	33,50	20	40,8
7	3	FM	Singh, Arvinder Preet	IND	2148	Punjab	6	47,5	51,5	32,75	20	-42,2
8	20		Sunny, Bedi	IND	1675	Rajasthan	6	46	49,5	30,50	20	59,8
9	29		Sri, Charan Sandipagu	IND	1495	Telangana	6	44	45	25,50	40	133,2
10	23		Arnav, Mahesh Koli	IND	1609	Maharashtra	6	43	46,5	29,25	40	52,8

Details

The reigning National Under-13 Girls champion, Sneha Halder (WB, 1660) scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to become champion in Below 2300 Women category. She finished a full point ahead of the competition. Sachi Jain (DEL, 1770) and Poorvi Rajpoot (UP, 1393) scored 7.5/9 each. They were placed second and third respectively. The top three prizes were ₹10000, ₹6000 and ₹5000 cash along with a trophy each.

Champion in Below 2300 Women - Sneha Halder 8.5/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Runner-up in Below 2300 Women - Sachi Jain (DEL) 7.5/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Second Runner-up in Below 2300 Women - Poorvi Rajput (UP) 7.5/9 | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Sneha Halder scored 8.5/9 and gained 25.2 Elo rating points

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	2		Sneha, Halder	IND	1660	West Bengal	8,5	46	49,5	45,75	40	25,2
2	1		Sachi, Jain	IND	1770	Delhi	7,5	47	50,5	39,25	40	-14,4
3	4		Poorvi, Rajpoot	IND	1393	Uttar Pradesh	7,5	44,5	47	35,25	40	37,6
4	6		Siya, Kaushik	IND	1086	Haryana	6	46	49	25,50	40	28,8
5	19		Neeharika, Singla	IND	0	Punjab	5,5	48	51	25,25
6	3	ACM	Ojassvini, Thiagarajan	IND	1441	Tamil Nadu	5	48	51,5	22,00	40	-72

Details

Inaugural first moves are being made | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Lighting of the lamp at the inauguration ceremony | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Chief Guest at the inauguration ceremony was Aman Arora, Cabinet Minister of Punjab. Others who were present were, IA Varun Kumar, Deputy Chief Arbiter, District Sangrur Chess Association Secretary. Rajpreet Goyal, Punjab State Chess Association, Secretary, Rakesh Gupta, Patron, Sangrur, Prof. Suresh Gupta, Punjab State Chess Association, President, Muneesh Thapar, Chief Advisor, Sangrur District Chess Association, Sukhpal Singh, Dhiman Sangrur District Chess Association, Vice President, Depender Tiwana Sangrur District Chess Association Joint Secretary, Prince Kumar, and Surendera Lamba IPS SSP at Sangrur.

Players of various rating category in action at Golden Valley Resort at Sangrur, Punjab | Photo: SNA Rakesh Gupta

Thanks to SNA Rakesh Gupta for sharing the photos and info about the tournament.

A total of 160 in Below 1700 Open, 49 in Below 1700 Women, 60 in Below 2000 Open and Women, 55 in Below 2300 Open and 22 in Below 2300 Women took part in this five-day nine-round MPL 10th National Amateur Chess Championship 2023. The tournament was organized by District Sangrur Chess Association from 18th to 22nd February 2023 at Golden Valley Resort, Sangrur, Punjab. The time control for the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.