Padmini finishes runner-up, Anwesh 3rd

Orissa lived up to its reputation as an emerging force in Indian chess when Woman International Master Padmini Rout became girls’ runner-up and Anwesh Upadhyaya finished third in boys’ category of the National Junior (u-19) Chess Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai today. Top seed Padmini beat C H Savetha (TN) in the 11th and last round to finish with nine points, while Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) took the title with 9.5 points. Padmini’s loss to Bhakti in the seventh round proved her costly. She won eight games and drew the remaining two. Among other two Orissa girls, Aparajita Gochhikar finished 13th with seven points, while Adyasha Patnaik occupied the 53rd position with 4.5 points. In the boys’ category, Anwesh, International Master S P Sethuraman (TN) and Swapnil Dhopade (MP) tied for the top spot with 8.5 points each. But when Buchholz was applied to break deadlock, Sethuraman claimed the title, keeping Dhopade and Anwesh in the second and third positions respectively. The 11th and last round clash between overnight joint leaders Dhopade and Anwesh ended in a drew. Among other three Orissa boys, Swayams Mishra (7.5), Utkal Ranjan Sahu (7.5) and Biswajeet Nayak (6) finished 13th, 15th and 58th respectively. PHOTO: Padmini Rout (1st from left) and Anwesh Upadhyaya (2nd from right) pose with their prizes at the Junior National Chess Championship in Chennai on Sept 28, 2009.