Coimbatore, Apr 16 (Chess News) The six-day MPL 31st National Under-18 Chess Championship will begin from April 18 in Pollachi with a total of 238 players, including 95 in the girls category, participating in the tournament.
The 14-year-old international master H Bharath Subramaniam of Tamil Nadu, who will be conferred with the grandmaster title later this month, is the top seed with a rating of 2,503 and the champion will represent India in the World Youth Chess Championships set to be held later this year, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association President Dr M Manickam told reporters here on Saturday.
Other top stars in the tournament are International Master L R Srihari (TN), IM-elect Avinash Ramesh (TN), FIDE Master Ayush Sharma of Madhya Pradesh, FIDE Master S Harshad of Coimbatore (TN), International Master Manish Anto Cristiana (TN), 13-year old former Under-9 national champion A R Ilamparithi (TN), Bhagyashree Patil of Maharashtra and, 2021 Under-16 national online champion Kheethi Ganta.
The championshp will be held at Dr Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology in Pollachi, jointly organised with Coimbatore District Chess Association, said Manickam, who is also the chairman of Sakthi Group of Industries that runs the college.
The championship will be inaugurated by renowned Indian coach Grandmaster R B Ramesh, who has produced several grandmasters including R Praggnanandhaa, who defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen recently.
Of the total prize money of Rs 9 lakh, the winners in both the categories will get Rs 90,000 each, tournament coordinator and vice president of TNSCA R Anantharam said.
The last edition of the championship was held at Ernakulam in 2019 wherein 89 boys and 55 girls played, as the events were not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, he said.
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News Source : PTI
