Harshal Shahi claims National Under-9 Open Chess Title

New Delhi, May 6 (UNI) Commonwealth Silver medalist Harshal Shahi justified his favourite tag, winning the National Under-9 Open Chess Title by defeating Jerome Jorge Ebenezer of Tamilnadu in the final.

Harshal, who notched up a total of 10 points, needed only a draw in the final to secure the title but he turned down the draw offer made by Jerome in the early stages of the game and went on to wrap up the title in style with a resounding 32 moves victory in Guico Piano Opening.

Jeet Jain and Hetul Shah of Gujarat finished second and third respectively.

Jeet shocked top seed Arjun Bharat of Karnataka while second seed Hetul had to be satisfied with a draw against Dhonnar Nachiket of Maharashtra in the final round game.

Meanwhile, in the girls section, second seed and Commonwealth Under-10 Gold Medalist C H Meghna of Kerala got the title by drawing her last round game against Niveditha K of Tamilnadu.

Meghna played it safe and accepted the draw offer made by Niveditha after 47 moves and tied for the pole position along with World Under-8 champion Ivana Maria Furtado of Goa with nine points.

Ivana beat state mate Savant Riya in the final round but she had to be content with the runner-up spot as Meghna had a better progressive score than her.

Shiny Das of Tripura finished third with eight points.

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