Swayams Mishra bags Rapid-Blitz Double

Swayams Mishra of Cuttack bagged a double by winning both the titles in the 1st Orissa State Rapid & Blitz Chess Chamionship at OAS Bhawan in Bhubaneswar today. Swayams, however, faced stiff competition in both the versions of the game before emerging champion by virtue of having better progressive score. In the nine-round rapid event, he along with Women International Masters Kiran Manisha Mohanty and Padmini Rout finished with 7.5 points. Swayams` progressive score of 42.5 fetched him the title, while Mohanty finished runner-up with a progressive score of 37. In the blitz event, Mishra and Rout tied for the top spot with eight points each from nine rounds. Mishra’s progress score of 42.5 helped him clinch the title, while Rout settled for the second position with a progressive score of 41.5. Orissa Chess Ad-hoc Committee chairman Asit Mukherjee gave away the prizes at the closing function. The top two finishers in both the categories qualified to represent Orissa in the National Rapid and Blitz Championship to be held at Hyderabad from June 2 to 5. Final standings (Top 10): Rapid: 1. Swayams Mishra (7.5), 2. Kiran Manisha Mohanty (7.5), 3. Padmini Rout (7.5), 4. Narayan Swain (7), 5. Rakesh Kumar Nayak (7), 6. Anwesh Upadhyaya (6.5), 7. Manoj Panigrahi (6.5), 8. Rabindra Kumar Ojha (6.5), 9. Santosh Das (6.5), 10. Ashutosh Mohapatra (6.5). Blitz: 1. Swayams Mishra (8), 2. Padmini Rout (8), 3. Kiran Manisha Mohanty (7), 4. Anwesh Upadhyaya (7), 5. Rabindra Ojha (7), 6. Aparajita Gochhikar (7), 7. Rajendra Sahu (6.5), 8. Mohammad Ashraf (6.5), 9. Dasarathi Sahoo (6.5), 10. Rakesh Kumar Jena (6.5).