John Veny Akkarakaran and Mrittika Mallick become MPL 34th National U-14 Open and Girls Champions 2022

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/05/2022

John Veny Akkarakaran (KER) and Mrittika Mallick (WB) drew their respective games to win MPL 34th National Under-14 Open and Girls Chess Championship 2022. Both of them scored 9.0/11 each. Mrittika needed a draw in the final round to win the tournament, however, things were not clear whether a draw would be enough for John to become the champion. All results eventually turned out in his favor. Gaurang Bagwe (MAH) also scored 9.0/11. He was placed second on tie-breaks. A R Ilamparthi (TN) was placed third 8.5/11. Pragnya H G (TN) and Anupam Sreekumar (KER) scored 8.5/11 to secure second and third place respectively. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Multiple states finish in the top 10

Both Runner-up in each section, Gaurang Bagwe (MAH) and Pragnya H G (TN) won their respective final round games to secure second place. Whiel Mrittika remained undefeated, John bounced back well from his seventh round loss against the top seed of the tournament, CM Om Manish Kadam (MAH). Total prize fund of the tournament was ₹400000 in each section. Top three prizes were ₹80000, ₹60000 and ₹50000 along with a trophy each.

Mrittika Mallick and John Veny Akkarakaran are the winners of MPL 34th National Under-14 Girls and Open Chess Championship 2022 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Champion in Open - John Veny Akkarakaran (KER) 9.0/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

I feel very happy that I finally won a National Championship - John Veny Akkarakaran | Video: ChessBase India

John Veny Akkarakaran scored 9.0/11 and gained 136.4 Elo rating points in the process

Champion in Girls - Mrittika Mallick (WB) 9.0/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

My Idols are prodigies especially Praggnanandhaa | Video: ChessBase India

Mrittika Mallick scored an unbeaten 9.0/11 and finished a half point ahead of the field

Open Runner-up - Gaurang Bagwe (MAH) 9.0/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

It's a habit for me to balance Chess and Studies - Gaurang Bagwe | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Girls Runner-up - Pragnya H G (TN) 8.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

I like to refer to a lot of Chess Books before my tournaments - Pragnya H G | Video: ChessBase India

Open Second Runner-up - A R Ilamparthi (TN) 8.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

I am not happy with my performance | Need to work harder - A R Ilamparthi | Video: ChessBase India

Girls Second Runner-up - Anupam M Sreekumar (KER) 8.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Judit Polgar's personality inspires me - Anupam M Sreekumar | Video: ChessBase India

Koustuv - Gaurang: 0-1

Koustuv Dash (ODI, 1910) blundered in the final part of the rook endgame against Gaurang Bagwe (MAH, 1789).

Position after 40.Rb4??

The rook endgame was undoubtedly difficult for White to play as Black had an outside passed pawn on the h-file. 40.b4 would have allowed White to continue the fight. However, 40.Rb4 trapped his own rook b5. To get the rook back into play, White had to give up a pawn 41.d5 exd5 42.Rd4 Ke5. Now White is about to lose another pawn and there is no way to get back in the game anymore. With this win, Gaurang scored 9.0/11 and secured second place on tie-breaks.

Gaurang Bagwe (MAH) scored a crucial win in the final round to finish second | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

A R Ilamparthi (TN) defeated the top seed CM Om Manish Kadam (MAH) convincingly to secure a third place finish | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Mrittika Mallick (WB) drew with Anupam M Sreekumar (KER) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Pragnya - Sannidhi: 1-0

Pragnya H G (TN, 1605) scored an important victory in the final round against Sannidhi Ramakrishna Bhat (MAH, 1373) to secure second place.

Position after 19...h6

Black's position already looks wobbly. 19...h6 did not help her case. Find out how to maximize White's advantage like Pragnya did in the game.

Pragnya H G (TN) defeated Sannidhi Bhat (MAH) to secure second place | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Photo Gallery

Top three finishers of Open and Girls section with the organizers and officials | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

John Veny Akkarakaran with his father | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Mrittika Mallick with her father | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

I sometimes feel absolutely helpless - Arindam Mallick, Father of National Under-14 Girls Champion Mrittika Mallick | Video: ChessBase India

The trophies which were given away as the prizes | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The prize winners | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

For more Round 11 and Prize Distribution Ceremony photos, please click at the respective links.

A total of 214 players in the Open and 107 players in the Girls tournament took part. It was organized by Gujarat State Chess Association. Both tournaments were held at Rajpath Club, Ahmedabad, Gujarat from 9th to 14th May 2022. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Open Round 11 games

Replay Girls Round 11 games

Open Round 11 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	13		John Veny Akkarakaran	1855	Kerala	8½	½ - ½	8		Abhash Roimya Saikia	1794	Assam	20
2	11		Koustuv Dash	1910	Odisha	8	0 - 1	8		Bagwe Gaurang	1789	Maharashtra	22
3	1	CM	Kadam Om Manish	2144	Maharashtra	8	0 - 1	7½		Ilamparthi A R	2121	Tamil Nadu	3
4	9		Bharadia Yash	1924	Rajasthan	7½	1 - 0	7½		Adireddy Arjun	1898	Telangana	12
5	27		Jval Saurin Patel	1712	Gujarat	7½	1 - 0	7½		Aswath S	1694	Tamil Nadu	29
6	17		Shankhodip De	1810	West Bengal	7	1 - 0	7	AIM	Md Imran	2122	Andhra Pradesh	2
7	5	CM	Mayank Chakraborty	2015	Assam	7	0 - 1	7	AIM	Vaz Ethan	1792	Goa	21
8	23		Nirnay Garg	1755	Haryana	7	½ - ½	7		Shaik Sumer Arsh	1999	Telangana	6
9	26		Arpith S Bijoy	1713	Kerala	7	1 - 0	7		Chidvilash Sai Surapaneni	1912	Telangana	10
10	50		Aayush Bhojak	1494	Rajasthan	7	1 - 0	7		Jaiveer Mahendru	1832	Maharashtra	15

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Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	13		John Veny Akkarakaran	IND	1855	Kerala	9,0	72,5	77,5	61,25	0,0	8
2	22		Bagwe Gaurang	IND	1789	Maharashtra	9,0	71,0	76,0	61,00	0,0	8
3	3		Ilamparthi A R	IND	2121	Tamil Nadu	8,5	73,0	79,0	58,50	0,0	7
4	9		Bharadia Yash	IND	1924	Rajasthan	8,5	70,0	74,0	55,25	0,0	7
5	20		Abhash Roimya Saikia	IND	1794	Assam	8,5	68,5	73,5	55,25	0,0	7
6	27		Jval Saurin Patel	IND	1712	Gujarat	8,5	66,0	71,0	55,50	0,0	8
7	1	CM	Kadam Om Manish	IND	2144	Maharashtra	8,0	79,5	85,5	61,75	0,0	7
8	11		Koustuv Dash	IND	1910	Odisha	8,0	78,0	83,0	58,25	0,0	6
9	26		Arpith S Bijoy	IND	1713	Kerala	8,0	69,5	74,5	53,25	0,0	6
10	21	AIM	Vaz Ethan	IND	1792	Goa	8,0	69,0	73,5	49,75	0,0	7
11	17		Shankhodip De	IND	1810	West Bengal	8,0	67,0	72,0	51,25	0,0	7
12	50		Aayush Bhojak	IND	1494	Rajasthan	8,0	65,0	69,0	46,00	0,0	8
13	29		Aswath S	IND	1694	Tamil Nadu	7,5	75,0	80,5	53,00	0,0	6
14	6		Shaik Sumer Arsh	IND	1999	Telangana	7,5	75,0	80,0	51,00	0,0	6
15	12		Adireddy Arjun	IND	1898	Telangana	7,5	69,5	74,5	48,25	0,0	6
16	4	CM	Daakshin Arun	IND	2016	Tamil Nadu	7,5	68,5	74,0	46,00	0,0	7
17	34		Daaevik Wadhawan	IND	1603	Delhi	7,5	68,5	73,5	47,00	0,0	6
18	24		Dhruva Thota	IND	1743	Telangana	7,5	67,0	72,0	45,75	0,0	7
19	31	CM	Mrithyunjay Mahadevan	IND	1661	Tamil Nadu	7,5	64,5	69,0	45,50	0,0	5
20	64		Raihaan Zahid	IND	1457	Karnataka	7,5	64,5	69,0	43,25	0,0	7

Details

Girls Round 11 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	1		Mrittika Mallick	1982	West Bengal	8½	½ - ½	8		Anupam M Sreekumar	1673	Kerala	4
2	5	AFM	Shubhi Gupta	1613	Uttar Pradesh	7½	½ - ½	7½		Roy Aanya	1560	Maharashtra	9
3	6		Pragnya H G	1605	Tamil Nadu	7½	1 - 0	7½		Bhat Sannidhi Ramakrishna	1373	Maharashtra	24
4	20	AFM	Sanikommu Manasvi	1399	Karnataka	7	½ - ½	7		Rout Yashita	1718	Odisha	3
5	13		Arshiya Das	1456	Tripura	6½	0 - 1	7		Sneha Halder	1557	West Bengal	10
6	2		Sachi Jain	1768	Delhi	6½	0 - 1	6½	WCM	Shriyana S Mallya	1353	Karnataka	26
7	28		Falak Joni Naik	1349	Gujarat	6½	1 - 0	6½		Rajanya Datta	1589	West Bengal	7
8	11		Shreya G Hipparagi	1548	Maharashtra	6½	1 - 0	6½		Elakshi Srivastava	1256	Rajasthan	46
9	50		Riddhika Kotia	1238	Haryana	6½	0 - 1	6½		Jeevika S	1433	Puducherry	16
10	38		Arushi Srichandan	1292	Odisha	6½	½ - ½	6½		Debapriya Manna	1384	West Bengal	22

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Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1		Mrittika Mallick	IND	1982	West Bengal	9,0	72,0	77,5	62,50	0,0	7
2	6		Pragnya H G	IND	1605	Tamil Nadu	8,5	71,5	75,0	55,75	0,0	7
3	4		Anupam M Sreekumar	IND	1673	Kerala	8,5	71,0	75,5	55,75	0,0	7
4	9		Roy Aanya	IND	1560	Maharashtra	8,0	75,5	80,5	56,50	0,0	6
5	10		Sneha Halder	IND	1557	West Bengal	8,0	71,0	75,5	53,25	0,0	6
6	5	AFM	Shubhi Gupta	IND	1613	Uttar Pradesh	8,0	68,0	73,5	50,75	0,0	7
7	24		Bhat Sannidhi Ramakrishna	IND	1373	Maharashtra	7,5	75,5	81,0	52,25	0,0	6
8	20	AFM	Sanikommu Manasvi	IND	1399	Karnataka	7,5	72,0	77,0	49,25	0,0	6
9	11		Shreya G Hipparagi	IND	1548	Maharashtra	7,5	71,5	76,5	49,50	0,0	6
10	16		Jeevika S	IND	1433	Puducherry	7,5	67,5	72,0	47,00	0,0	5
11	28		Falak Joni Naik	IND	1349	Gujarat	7,5	65,5	68,5	42,00	0,0	7
12	23		Pournami S	IND	1376	Kerala	7,5	64,5	69,0	44,50	0,0	6
13	3		Rout Yashita	IND	1718	Odisha	7,5	64,0	67,0	43,50	0,0	5
14	26	WCM	Shriyana S Mallya	IND	1353	Karnataka	7,5	62,5	67,0	42,50	0,0	6
15	22		Debapriya Manna	IND	1384	West Bengal	7,0	66,5	71,5	44,00	0,0	5
16	38		Arushi Srichandan	IND	1292	Odisha	7,0	66,5	71,0	42,00	0,0	5
17	43		Aashi Upadhyay	IND	1266	Rajasthan	7,0	64,5	68,5	41,25	0,0	5
18	25		Yashvi Jain	IND	1362	Telangana	7,0	62,5	66,5	42,00	0,0	6
19	33		Krishika Garg	IND	1318	Delhi	7,0	62,0	66,0	35,50	0,0	7
20	41		Olivia Biswas	IND	1288	West Bengal	7,0	61,5	64,0	36,50	0,0	6

Details

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