Odisha chess queen IM Padmini Rout is back to winning ways! She won the title in the 30th Swiss Queens Wednesday women online blitz tournament on 21 August 2024. Padmini, who scored nine points out of a possible 11, tied for first place with IM Olga Badelka of Belarus and won the tournament on the basis of better tiebreak score.

The Swiss Queens Wednesday series is a weekly virtual event held on chessarena.com, the FIDE Online Arena platform. The event, which began on January 31, continues every Wednesday, attracting top female chess talent from around the world and celebrating the achievements of women in chess.

The Swiss Queens Wednesday series is part of the FIDE 100th anniversary celebration. The Blitz tournaments take place every Wednesday on www.chessarena.com, with a 1,000 dollar prize fund per tournament.

Padmini won nine games and lost two. She defeated WCM Saadat Bashirli (Azerbaijan), WIM Cecile Haussernot (France), Vonti Tripurambika (India), IM Meri Arabidze (Georgia), IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (Poland), IM Anastasia Bodnaruk (Russia), WGM Evgenia Doluhanova (Ukraine), Hoang Bao An Tran (Vietnam), IM Gulnar Mammadova (Azerbaijan) and lost to WGM Savitha Shri B (India) and IM Olga Badelka (Belarus).

This was the first title triumph for Padmini after she tied the nuptial knot with Mumbai-based IT professional Jaikishin Mankani in Bhubaneswar on 28 January 2024. Currently she is travelling a lot, playing tournaments in the US, Europe and India. She is gearing up to defend her title at the 50 th National Women Chess Championship, set to take place in Tamil Nadu from 3 to 13 October 2024.

Speaking on her latest success, Padmini said, “I am happy to win the 30th Swiss Queen`s Wednesday. This year FIDE launched these online events on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, to promote women`s participation in chess. Participation of top players from around the world makes these tournaments strong and attractive.”