Khordha boy Aditya Vikram Mishra and Cuttack girl Pratyasha Jena won the open and girls titles respectively in the Odisha State Under-13 Chess Championship, which was hosted by District Chess Association Puri, under the auspices of All Odisha Chess Association at Arnnapurnna Theatre in Puri from 15 to 17 November 2024.

Aditya scored 6.5 points out of a possible seven to emerge champion, while local boy Ayushman Mohanty finished runner-up with six points. Girls champion Pratyasha secured six points from seven rounds and her Cuttack district-mate Shradha Smaranika Nanda settled as runner-up with 5.5 points.

Title winners received cash prizes of Rs 2,500 each and runners-up Rs 1,500 each. A total of 148 players (99 in open category and 49 in the girls category) from 18 districts participated in the three-day championship.

Top two finishers from each category qualified to represent Odisha in the 37th National U-13 Chess Championships, scheduled to be held at Sidhu Kanu Indoor Stadium in Durgapur (West Bengal) from 17 to 23 December 2024.

The closing ceremony of the State championship featured AOCA secretary Debabrata Bhatta, DCAP president Narayan Patra, vice-president Suresh Chandra Sahoo, secretary Pradyumna Mishra, joint-secretary Debasis Mishra and tournament director Subhash Chandra Sahoo, international arbiter Santosh Kumar Mohapatra and FIDE arbiter Pinky Mohapatra.

FINAL PLACINGS (Top 10):

OPEN CATEGORY: 1. Aditya Vikram Mishra, Khordha (6.5), 2. Ayushman Mohanty, Puri (6), 3. Biswa Preet Ray, Cuttack (6), 4 Satya Swarup Tripathy, Khordha (5.5), 5. Swastik Ranjan Swain, Khordha (5), 6. Himanshu Nayak, Jajpur (5), 7. Shiyam Satyansh, Khordha (5), 8. Subhdeep Priyadarshan, Puri (5), 9. Sarthak Mohanty, Khordha (5), 10. Adya Advit Das, Khordha (5).

GIRLS CATEGORY: 1. Pratyasha Jena, Cuttack (6), 2. Shradha Smaranika Nanda, Cuttack (5.5), 3. Jyotika Sahoo, Cuttack (5.5), 4. Sandeepa Priyadarshini Sahoo, Cuttack (5), 5. Nainika Sahoo, Khordha (5), 6. Ayushi Mohanty, Puri (5), 7. Subhasmita Priyadarshini, Khordha (5), 8. Ishani Das, Khordha (5), 9. Sayee Atreyi Mohapatra, Cuttack (5), 10. Amruta Priyalaxmi, Khordha (5).
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PHOTO: Title winners and runners-up of the State U-13 Chess Championship pose with AOCA and DCAP office-bearers and tournament officials in Puri on 17 November 2024.