Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan of Kerala and J Saranya of Tamil Nadu topped their respective categories to clinch titles in the National Junior Under-19 Chess championship at the Balewadi Sports Complex here today.
Both Sunilduth and Saranya tallied 9 points apiece to win the Open and Girls titles after the 11th and final round in the in the 44th National Open (Boys) and 29th Girls Championships respectively.
The Kerala player played his part cleverly and beat B Kumaran of Tamil Nadu in 36 moves, but it was G Akash's win over Aravindh Chithambaram that really paved the way for him.
Both Sunilduth and Chithambaram were on 8 points and after the former scored the win, Chithambaram came under pressure and lost against Akash after playing 128 moves over 5 hours.
Sunilduth had two-bishop advantage in middle game before he broke open Kumaran's defenses in the 27th move and went piece up.
For the 16-year-old Sunilduth, it was his first national title. The 11th grader, who lives in Thiruvananthapuram, is a student of St. Maries Junior College.
Woman FIDE Master J Saranya won the women's title by half-a-point after she beat Srija Seshadri in an all-Tamil Nadu face-off in the 11th and final round.
Saranya aggregated 9 points, which was clear half-a-point better than Michelle Catherina and Monnisha GK.
Saranya and Srija played over 72 moves after the eventual winner opened with Nimzo Indian Defence. The North Chennai girl, who is doing her BTech second year at St Joseph College, was playing in Pune for the first time.
"This is a lucky win for me because at college I am not able to give enough time for practice," said Saranya.
Michelle, who was also on 8 points before the start of the final round was forced to a draw with black pieces. Nandhidhaa PV held Michelle for a draw in the longest match of the day that spoiled her chances of challenging Saranya for the title.
The two played over 133 moves for four hours and 45 minutes before agreeing to a draw. Nadakishor Khaire of Navjeevan Properties and Anniruddha Deshpande, President of the Pune District Chess Circle, Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte gave away the prizes.
Chief Arbiter Vijay Raghawan and the PDCC Secretary Niranjan Godbole were also present.
