36th National Women Premier Chess Championship

News from The Telegraph - Calcutta Draw earns Harika maiden title Chennai: Top seed International Master Dronavalli Harika of Andhra Pradesh proved her supremacy winning her maiden title in the 36th National Women Premier Chess Championship Saturday. Harika drew against WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy to take the top honours with 8.5 points. In the 11th and final round Saturday, WGM Meenakshi, who was in the sole lead till the penultimate round, was facing WGM Mary Ann Gomes with the white pieces. As her tie-break score was low, Meenakshi had to win to have a sniff of the title. Top finishers: 1 IM Harika Dronavalli 2474 IND 8,5 2 WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman 2324 IND 8,0 3 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2150 IND 7,5 4 IM Tania Sachdev 2399 IND 7,0 5 GM Karavade Eesha 2413 IND 7,0 6 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2384 IND 7,0 Full final cross-table at Chess-Results.com. Of note, Orissa's WIM Padmini Rout (IND 2333) by-passed the Indian Women's National Championshp and played with the big boys in the National, where she was ranked 36th of 42 players at the beginning. How is she doing? With one more round to go (12 rounds total), after R11 she stands in 38th place with 4.5 points. I admire her determination and commitment, and expect great things from this young lady (she's 14 or 15 - born in 1994, I don't have her exact birth date). She is doing exactly what she needs to do, playing UP and gaining invaluable experience.