Modest show by Orissa in Natl U-9 Chess

Orissa experienced mixed luck in the 23rd National Under-9 Chess Championship, which concluded at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai today. Rakesh Kumar Jena emerged as the best performer among nine boys by finishing seventh in the open category. He lost to eventual champion Y Grahesh (AP) in the 11th and final round to cap his campaign with eight points. It was a modest achievement by the Jajpur boy, whose starting rank was 118. Four other Orissa boys (Rudrakshya Parida, Subhasish Barik, Nishit Mohanty and Samaresh Mahapatra) also finished higher than their starting ranks, while the remaining four (Sourav Mohanty, Brajeswar Das, Muhammed Hussain and Raghav Kandoi) suffered slump in rankings. In the girls’ category, Sovna Sonali Jena occupied 11th position with 7.5 points, the best among six Orissa girls. It was reasonably good performance by Jena, whose starting rank was 72. Sweta Senapati (7) was another Orissa girl, who finished higher (16th) than her starting rank of 78. Orissa results (Round 11): Open category: Rakesh Kumar Jena (8) lost to Y Grahesh (AP, 10), Rudrakshya Parida (7) bt Anant Prabhudesai (Goa, 6), Subhasish Barik (7) lost to Aryan Chopra (Del, 8), Nishit Mohanty (7) drew with Niranjan Nadarajan (AICF, 7), Sourav Mohanty (6.5) bt T Sai Khanzan (AP, 5.5), Brajeswar Das (5) lost to Rohan Sen (WB, 6), Muhammed Hussain (5) lost to Rajesh Gorak (TN, 6), Samresh Mahapatra (4.5) lost to Pranav G Reddy (Kar, 5.5), Raghav Kandoi (3.5) drew with Amogh Narayan (Kar, 3.5). Final standings: RK Jena (7th), R Parida (26th), S Barik (35th), N Mohanty (36th), S Mohanty (42nd), B Das (94th), M Hussain (104th), S Mahapatra (126th), R Kandoi (147th). Girls’ category: Sovna Sonali Jena (7.5) bt Riddhi Zantye (Goa, 6.5), Adyasha Patnaik (7.5) bt NG Sneha (Pud, 6.5), Sweta Senapati (7) lost to Hilmi Parveen (Ker, 8), Akankshya Nayak (6.5) bt Shreya Sankalp (Bih, 5.5), Adyasa Mahapatra (5) lost to Reesha Senoy (Kar, 6), Sudeepa Sahoo (3.5) lost to Sheryn Rjivbhai Mehta (Guj, 4.5). Final standings: SS Jena (11th), A Patnaik (12th), S Senapati (16th), A Nayak (28th), A Mahapatra (53rd), S Sahoo (79th).