Vignesh Vermula, Saranya Devi win Asian Junior Chess Championship blitz titles

India made a strong start to the Asian Junior Chess Championship, with Vignesh Vermula and Saranya Devi claiming the titles in the Open and Girls blitz sections respectively here on Monday.

Vermula started the tournament as the 23rd seed but produced a remarkable performance throughout the competition. He finished tied on points with Sharnarthi Viresh and Nandish V S, but won the title on superior tie-break scores.

Akshay Borganokar and Madhavendra Pratap Sharma finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Saranya, seeded ninth, was impressive with her tactical precision to claim the girls’ title, with Prishita Gupta and Shanmathi Sree finishing second and third respectively. Top seed Shohradova Lala from Turkmenistan ended fourth.

In the Open Championship, Kazakhstan’s Akhilbay Imangali emerged as the highest-ranked foreign player to claim the sixth spot while Turkmenistan’s Shageldi Kurbandurdyyev was ninth. Indian IM Mayank Chakraborty finished 13th.