Nidhish Shyamal and Kiyanna Parihaar are 37th National Under-9 Open and Girls 2024 Champions

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/01/2025

Nidhish Shyamal (TEL) and Aarit Kapil (DEL) scored 9.5/11 each at 37th National Under-9 Open 2024. Nidhish won the tournament due to better tie-break score, Aarit secured second place. Divith Reddy Adulla (TEL) scored sole 9/11 to finish third. Kiyanna Parihaar (RAJ) became champion in Girls scoring an unbeaten 10/11. She finished a half point ahead of the rest. Top seed and reigning National Under-11 Girls 2024 champion, Divi Bijesh scored 9.5/11 to claim second place. Vanshika Rawat (DEL) scored 9/11 to secure third place. The total prize fund combining Open and Girls section was ₹500000. The top three prizes in both Open and Girls sections were ₹50000, ₹36000 and ₹30000 along with a trophy each respectively. Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

Open: Top two score 9.5/11, Girls: No tie-breaks needed for top three

Aarit Kapil (DEL) was the sole leader 9/10, going into the final round. Nidhish Shyamal (TEL), Oishik Mondal (WB) and Ayaan Phutane (MAH) were trailing him by a half point at 8.5/10 each. Thavish S (TN) held Aarit to a draw. Oishik lost to Nidhish. Ayaan lost against Divith Reddy Adulla (TEL). Nidhish became champion, Aarit second and Divith third. Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal claimed two places each in top ten. The remaining two went to Delhi and Odisha.

37th National Under-9 Open Champions - Nidhish Shyamal (TEL) 9.5/11 | Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

Runner-up - Aarit Kapil (DEL) 9.5/11 | Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

Second Runner-up - Divith Reddy Adulla (TEL) 9/11 | Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

Kiyanna Parihaar (RAJ) was the sole leader 9/10, heading into the last round. Divi Bijesh (KER) was the only girl trailing her by a half point at 8.5/10. Aashvi Singh (GUJ) lost to Kiyanna and she became a clear champion. 112th seeded and unrated, Annanya Chinta (AP) lost against Divi and the latter finished second. Vanshika Rawat (DEL) defeated Sriiyukthaa Marksim Karki Abirami (TN) to be placed third. The top eight placees were claimed by eight different states. Maharashtra is the only state to claim two out of top ten places. In total, nine different states secured the top ten places in the Girls tournament.

Champion in Girls - Kiyanna Parihaar (RAJ) 10/11 | Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

Interview with Kiyanna Parihaar | Video: ChessBase India

Runner-up - Divi Bijesh (KER) 9.5/11 | Photo: Ravindra Potawad

Second Runner-up - Vanshika Rawat (DEL) 9/11 | Photo: Ravindra Potawad

Top 3 (L to R): Open - 3rd Divith Reddy Adulla (TEL) 9/11, 2nd Aarit Kapil (DEL) 9.5/11 and 1st Nidhish Shyamal (TEL) 9.5/11, Girls - 1st Kiyanna Parihar (RAJ) 10/11, 2nd Divi Bijesh (KER) 9.5/11 and 3rd Vanshika Rawat (DEL) 9/11 | Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

Oishik - Nidhish, Round 11

Position after 26...g5

Nidhish Shyamal (TEL, 1868) showed his positional understanding by going for a break on the kingside 25...f4 26.Nh2 g5 27.hxg5 Qxg5 28.Nf1 Nh5 29.f3 Nxg3 eventually Black used his extra pawn advantage into a win against Oishik Mondal (WB, 1790).

Nidhish Shyamal scored 9.5/11, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 48 Elo rating points

Aashvi - Kiyanna, Round 11

Position after 33.h5?

Aashvi Singh (GUJ, 1575) needed to play 33.g3 first before h5 to ensure the knight is forced to go back. 33.h5? Nf4 34.Nh4 Ne2+ 35.Kh2 Nd4 the black knight has found a perfect square. 36.f4 Re2 delaying to push her passed b-pawn prolonged the game. Eventually, Kiyanna Parihar (RAJ, 1593) went on to win the game and the tournament.

Kiyanna Parihaar scored an unbeaten 10/11, finished a half point ahead of the field and increased her Elo rating by 121.6 points

Photo Gallery

Inauguration ceremony | Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

GM Vidit Gujrathi and GM Abhimanyu Puranik lighting up the lamp | Photo: Mohit Jain

GM Vidit Gujrathi and GM Abhimanyu Puranik made the inaugural first move | Photo: Mohit Jain

The tournament hall at Boxing Hall, Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, Maharashtra | Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association

Highlights, interviews with the organizers and arbiters | Video: ChessBase India

A total of 362 players in the Open and 204 in the Girls tournament took part from a combined total of 27 states and union territories across the country. The events were organized by Maharashtra Chess Association at Boxing Hal, Shri Shiv Chatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, Maharashtra from 27th December to 2nd January 2025. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

Replay all available Open games

Replay all available Girls games

Open Round 11 results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.	Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	18	ACM	Thavish, S	1643	8	½ - ½	9	Aarit, Kapil	1829	5	PGN
2	7		Oishik, Mondal	1790	8½	0 - 1	8½	Nidhish, Shyamal	1848	4	PGN
3	9		Ayaan, Phutane	1765	8½	0 - 1	8	Divith, Reddy Adulla	1876	3	PGN
4	14		Garvit, Jain	1685	7½	0 - 1	7½	Advik, Amit Agrawal	2064	1	PGN
5	2		Sattwik, Swain	1883	7½	1 - 0	7½	Saicharan, Srinivasan	1620	25	PGN
6	6		Lishanth, B	1793	7½	0 - 1	7½	Arjun, Singh	1636	19	PGN
7	8	ACM	Mani, Sarbartho	1786	7½	1 - 0	7½	Takkshanth, Anand	1596	36	PGN
8	10		Krithik, Muthukumar	1763	7½	½ - ½	7½	Parv, H Hakani	1577	41	PGN
9	47		Vishprajesh, Anand	1568	7½	0 - 1	7½	Sragvidha, S	1703	13	PGN
10	12	AIM	Muhammad, Shayan Noushad Ibrahim	1716	7	1 - 0	7½	Hriday, Garg	1525	62	PGN

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	4		Nidhish, Shyamal	IND	1848	Telangana	9,5	80,5	86,5	72,75
2	5		Aarit, Kapil	IND	1829	Delhi	9,5	79,5	85	72,25
3	3		Divith, Reddy Adulla	IND	1876	Telangana	9	69,5	75	62,00
4	1		Advik, Amit Agrawal	IND	2064	Maharashtra	8,5	78,5	84,5	63,00
5	7		Oishik, Mondal	IND	1790	West Bengal	8,5	77,5	83	59,75
6	9		Ayaan, Phutane	IND	1765	Karnataka	8,5	76	81,5	60,50
7	8	ACM	Mani, Sarbartho	IND	1786	West Bengal	8,5	76	81	59,25
8	2		Sattwik, Swain	IND	1883	Odisha	8,5	75,5	81	60,25
9	19		Arjun, Singh	IND	1636	Maharashtra	8,5	74	79	57,25
10	13		Sragvidha, S	IND	1703	Karnataka	8,5	72	77	59,25
11	18	ACM	Thavish, S	IND	1643	Tamil Nadu	8,5	68	73	55,25
12	10		Krithik, Muthukumar	IND	1763	Tamil Nadu	8	76,5	81	55,75
13	12	AIM	Muhammad, Shayan Noushad Ibrahim	IND	1716	Kerala	8	72,5	77,5	51,50
14	54		Mohd, Ismail Siddiqui	IND	1546	Uttar Pradesh	8	72	74,5	50,00
15	17	AFM	Aadwik, Abhinav Krishna	IND	1647	Karnataka	8	71	77	55,75
16	70		Medhansh, Dinesh Poojary	IND	1518	Maharashtra	8	68,5	73,5	51,25
17	41		Parv, H Hakani	IND	1577	Maharashtra	8	66,5	71	48,25
18	42	AFM	Vivaan, Chawla	IND	1576	Delhi	8	65	69	47,75
19	48		Dhyaan, Patel	IND	1565	Gujarat	8	64	69	48,50
20	47		Vishprajesh, Anand	IND	1568	Tamil Nadu	7,5	75,5	80,5	50,75

Details

Girls Round 11 results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	7		Aashvi, Singh	1575	8	0 - 1	9		Kiyanna, Parihaar	1593	5	PGN
2	112		Annanya, Chinta	0	8	0 - 1	8½		Divi, Bijesh	1805	1	PGN
3	28		Vanshika, Rawat	1502	8	1 - 0	7½	ACM	Marksim Karki Abirami, Sriiyukthaa	1466	43	PGN
4	13	ACM	Radhya, Malhotra	1549	7½	1 - 0	7½		Rajeswari, Aiyappan	1483	35	PGN
5	116		Anvi, Deepak Hinge	0	7½	0 - 1	7½		Aryahi, Bhattacharya	1490	31	PGN
6	36		Shruti, Sarkar	1482	7½	0 - 1	7		Karthik, Uthaara	1561	11	PGN
7	30		Nakshatra, Gumudavelly	1492	7	0 - 1	7		Tvesha, Ashish Jain	1636	2	PGN
8	9		Kaushi, Kulkarni	1565	7	1 - 0	7	AIM	Deepanjali, Srivastava	1415	79	PGN
9	14		Hariprana, B	1545	7	1 - 0	7		Sahasra, Varma Penumastha	0	169	PGN
10	42		Srijani, Naskar	1467	7	0 - 1	7		Aarini, Singh	1533	15	PGN

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5		Kiyanna, Parihaar	IND	1593	Rajasthan	10	77	80,5	71,50
2	1		Divi, Bijesh	IND	1805	Kerala	9,5	81	86,5	73,75
3	28		Vanshika, Rawat	IND	1502	Delhi	9	73	77	57,50
4	13	ACM	Radhya, Malhotra	IND	1549	Punjab	8,5	77	81	58,25
5	31		Aryahi, Bhattacharya	IND	1490	West Bengal	8,5	73,5	77,5	56,25
6	112		Annanya, Chinta	IND	0	Andhra Pradesh	8	80	85,5	59,25
7	2		Tvesha, Ashish Jain	IND	1636	Maharashtra	8	74	79	54,00
8	14		Hariprana, B	IND	1545	Tamil Nadu	8	72,5	78,5	55,00
9	11		Karthik, Uthaara	IND	1561	Maharashtra	8	72	76	50,75
10	24		Sai, Anshitha Puvvala	IND	1508	Telangana	8	70,5	74,5	50,25
11	7		Aashvi, Singh	IND	1575	Gujarat	8	69,5	74	50,75
12	9		Kaushi, Kulkarni	IND	1565	Karnataka	8	67,5	72,5	51,25
13	15		Aarini, Singh	IND	1533	Gujarat	8	65,5	69	48,00
14	43	ACM	Marksim Karki Abirami, Sriiyukthaa	IND	1466	Tamil Nadu	7,5	72,5	77	47,75
15	85		Yakshini, P	IND	1408	Tamil Nadu	7,5	72	77,5	49,50
16	50	ACM	Swara, Rahul Gandhi	IND	1456	Maharashtra	7,5	71	76	49,50
17	35		Rajeswari, Aiyappan	IND	1483	Karnataka	7,5	69,5	73,5	45,75
18	45		Narayani, Umesh Marathe	IND	1462	Maharashtra	7,5	67,5	72	45,75
19	47	AIM	Ankita, Raj	IND	1457	Bihar	7,5	67,5	71,5	44,75
20	117		Anwesha, Chhajlani	IND	0	Madhya Pradesh	7,5	65,5	68,5	44,25