Pranesh and Sarayu lead National under-13 with two rounds to go
The national under-13 is currently in progress in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Indian chess scene for this age category is quite vibrant amd hence this national championship assumes even greater importance. V.Pranav took the early lead in the event with a 7.0/7 start. In the eighth round he was defeated by Pranesh. Pranesh then went on to beat Jubin Jimmy as well and with 8.0/9 has a two point lead with two rounds to go. In the girls section top seed Sarayu Velpula is clearly showing her superiority as she is one point ahead of the entire field. An illustrated report with photos from the venue by Devashree Agarwal.
The National under-13 should be the most competitive national championships in Indian circuit. That's because in the world list of players born on and after 2006, four out of the top five are Indians - Gukesh, Sreeshwan, Aditya Mittal and Leon Mendonca. However, none of them are taking part in the national under-13 that is currently taking place in Visakhapatnam. The top seed of the event is Pranesh M.
Starting rank of the National under-13
| No. | Name | ID | FideID | FED | Rtg | Club/City | |
| 1 | FM | Pranesh M | 426942013 | 35028600 | IND | 2333 | TN |
| 2 | Pranav V | 489242013 | 25060783 | IND | 2315 | TN | |
| 3 | FM | Jubin Jimmy | 53807201 | 46686614 | IND | 2214 | KER |
| 4 | CM | Nikhil Magizhnan | 426982013 | 35075497 | IND | 2175 | TN |
| 5 | Ilamparthi A R | 578042014 | 45015775 | IND | 2074 | TN | |
| 6 | Manish Kumar (2006) | 40908201 | 46605649 | IND | 1953 | Orissa | |
| 7 | Harshad S | 431412013 | 46616551 | IND | 1917 | TN | |
| 8 | Shah Jeet | 57580201 | 45012954 | IND | 1905 | MAH | |
| 9 | Chilukuri Sai Varshith | 698112018 | 25617125 | IND | 1888 | AP | |
| 10 | Shreyash Shuvam Patnaik | 40883201 | 35047272 | IND | 1868 | Orissa |
Pranesh was going to face stiff resistance from Pranav, Jubin Jimmy and Nikhil Maghizan. There was also the young Ilamparthi who was playing in this nationals just for experience. Tbe boy is 2009 born!
In round seven Pranav was up against Jubin Jimmy and very soon landed in a losing position. Jubin had to maintain his calm to bring home the full point. But he somehow made one error after another and from a completely winning position, slumped to a defeat.
Pranav slumped to a loss in the eighth round against Pranesh and the tournament was wide open once again.
Standings after round 9
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | FM | Pranesh M | IND | 2333 | TN | 8,0 | 0,0 | 49,5 | 54,0 |
| 2 | 2 | Pranav V | IND | 2315 | TN | 7,5 | 0,0 | 53,5 | 57,0 | |
| 3 | 4 | CM | Nikhil Magizhnan | IND | 2175 | TN | 7,5 | 0,0 | 52,5 | 57,5 |
| 4 | 24 | Krishnan Ritvik | IND | 1685 | MAH | 7,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 50,5 | |
| 5 | 3 | FM | Jubin Jimmy | IND | 2214 | KER | 7,0 | 0,0 | 53,0 | 57,5 |
| 6 | 19 | Shaik Sumer Arsh | IND | 1737 | TEL | 7,0 | 0,0 | 52,0 | 56,5 | |
| 7 | 6 | Manish Kumar (2006) | IND | 1953 | Orissa | 7,0 | 0,0 | 52,0 | 56,0 | |
| 8 | 7 | Harshad S | IND | 1917 | TN | 7,0 | 0,0 | 51,5 | 55,5 | |
| 9 | 12 | Aditya Varun Gampa | IND | 1826 | TEL | 7,0 | 0,0 | 50,5 | 55,0 | |
| 10 | 34 | Koustuv Dash | IND | 1591 | Orissa | 7,0 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 51,0 | |
| 11 | 5 | Ilamparthi A R | IND | 2074 | TN | 7,0 | 0,0 | 46,5 | 50,5 | |
| 32 | Jain Adi | IND | 1593 | GUJ | 7,0 | 0,0 | 46,5 | 50,5 | ||
| 13 | 33 | Prithvvi Singh | IND | 1593 | UP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 49,5 | |
| 14 | 11 | Aaditya Dhingra | IND | 1867 | HAR | 6,5 | 0,0 | 50,0 | 54,5 | |
| 15 | 26 | Dhanvij Ansh | IND | 1677 | MAH | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 51,5 | |
| 16 | 31 | Rohith Yadav B R | IND | 1607 | TEL | 6,5 | 0,0 | 46,5 | 50,0 | |
| 17 | 10 | Shreyash Shuvam Patnaik | IND | 1868 | Orissa | 6,5 | 0,0 | 46,0 | 50,0 | |
| 18 | 8 | Shah Jeet | IND | 1905 | MAH | 6,5 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 49,0 | |
| 19 | 20 | Sreekar J S S | IND | 1728 | TEL | 6,5 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 48,0 | |
| 20 | 25 | Mayank Chakraborty | IND | 1684 | Assam | 6,5 | 0,0 | 44,5 | 48,5 |
Girls section:
Sarayu Velpula is the top seed and she is clearly showing that she deserves the tip billing. She is currently on 8.0/9 and one point agead of six girls who ate following her on 7.0/9. Here's her nice win against Jyoti Bir where she converts the game into a win in a pawn endgame.
Ranking after round 9
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | Velpula Sarayu | IND | 1768 | TEL | 8,0 | 0,0 | 51,0 | 56,0 | |
| 2 | 11 | Kheerthi Ganta | IND | 1545 | TEL | 7,0 | 0,0 | 51,0 | 53,5 | |
| 3 | 17 | WCM | Kriti Mayur Patel | IND | 1449 | MAH | 7,0 | 0,0 | 50,0 | 54,0 |
| 4 | 6 | AIM | Renganayaki V | IND | 1610 | KAR | 7,0 | 0,0 | 48,5 | 53,0 |
| 5 | 23 | Panda Miracle | IND | 1379 | Orissa | 7,0 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 49,0 | |
| 6 | 24 | Tejaswini G | IND | 1374 | TN | 7,0 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 50,0 | |
| 7 | 31 | Barik Bijayalaxmi | IND | 1344 | Orissa | 7,0 | 0,0 | 43,0 | 45,5 | |
| 8 | 20 | Yashavishree N | IND | 1422 | TN | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 51,5 | |
| 9 | 13 | Yash Jyoti Bir | IND | 1507 | WB | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 51,0 | |
| 10 | 2 | Meenatchi Rajam V | IND | 1714 | TN | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,0 | 51,0 | |
| 11 | 4 | WCM | Wankhade Sanskruti | IND | 1630 | MAH | 6,5 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 50,0 |
| 12 | 5 | Akshaya Rajaraman | IND | 1617 | TN | 6,5 | 0,0 | 44,0 | 48,0 | |
| 13 | 21 | Swara Lakshmi S Nair | IND | 1390 | KAR | 6,5 | 0,0 | 40,0 | 43,0 | |
| 14 | 3 | Boramanikar Tanisha S | IND | 1694 | MAH | 6,0 | 0,0 | 51,5 | 56,5 | |
| 15 | 19 | Cera Dagaria | IND | 1433 | MP | 6,0 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 52,0 | |
| 16 | 9 | Ananya Arumbakkam | IND | 1550 | KAR | 6,0 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 51,5 | |
| 17 | 16 | Anushka Gupta | IND | 1456 | WB | 6,0 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 51,0 | |
| 18 | 7 | Harshavardhini M.S. | IND | 1554 | PON | 6,0 | 0,0 | 46,0 | 50,0 | |
| 19 | 41 | Jahnavi Sri Lalita Mareddy | IND | 1289 | TEL | 6,0 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 48,5 | |
| 20 | 18 | Rout Yashita | IND | 1440 | Orissa | 6,0 | 0,0 | 45,0 | 50,0 |
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Pranesh and Sarayu win National under-13 Open and Girls 2019
@ 23/05/2019 by S Paul Arokia Raj (en) |