Indian chess players Pranav Anand, Ilamparthi win titles

India’s Pranav Anand and AR Ilamparthi emerged champions in the Open under-16 and under-14 categories respectively in the World Youth Chess Championship .
The top-seeded Anand, who Thursday became the country’s 76th Grandmaster, scored nine points from 11 rounds to emerge clear winner. He was half a point ahead of the rest of the field. Anand’s compatriot M Pranesh, who was the second seed, finished joint third with eight points along with three others.
Anand remained unbeaten through the 11 rounds and posted seven wins apart from four draws. He drew his 11th and last round game against France’s Droin Augustin after scoring over Armenia’s Emin Ohanyan in round 10.

Congratulations Pranav Anand…76th Grandmaster of India!!Photo: Biel Chess Festival@DrSK_AICF @Bharatchess64 @ianuragthakur @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/vb2Ksv3HPk
— All India Chess Federation (@aicfchess) September 16, 2022
Pranesh, on the other hand, recorded six wins and four draws. However, a defeat at the hands of Ohanyan in round six hurt his title chances.
Like Anand, Ilamparthi was half a point ahead of the rest of the field with 9.5 points from 11 rounds. Though he lost to Ukraine’s Artem Berin in the fourth round, he won nine games and drew one to claim the top prize. In the Open under-18 event, Sohan Kamotra took the 14th place with 7 points while S Harshad (6.5 points) had to be content with 24th place.
Among the girls, Mrittika Mallick finished fourth in the girls under-14 section with 8 points. Also, Anupam M Sreekumar and H G Pragnya secured seventh and eighth place respectively. In the girls under-18 event, S Kanishka with 7.5 points took sixth place while Rakshitta Ravi finished eighth, also with the same number of points