Mainpuri’s Narayan, Ballia’s Riya win chess competition

Lucknow: Narayan Chauhan of Mainpuri and Riya Mishra of Ballia emerged champions in the Under-18 category of online chess selection competition organized by the UP Chess Sports Association.
In the open category, Narayan scored 4.5 points, while Rishi Singh of Varanasi and Manikya Negi of Ghaziabad scored 4 points each to finish second and third, respectively, due to tie-break scores.
In women’s Under-18, Riya Mishra of Ballia scored 5 points, Shubhi Gupta of Ghaziabad stood second with 4 points followed by Ananya Jain of Ghaziabad (3 points).
In the fifth and final round of Under-19 Open category, the French defense between Manikya Negi and Narayan Chauhan on the first board ended in a draw. Prithvi Singh and Arnav Dhamija clashed on the second board in which Arnav emerged victorious. On the third board, Rishi Singh of Varanasi defeated Medhansh Saxena of Lucknow in 66 moves.
In the fifth and final round of women’s Under-18 group, Riya Mishra defeated Saanvi Agarwal, playing on the first board.
On the second board, Shubhi Gupta defeated Ananya Jain to get second position with 4 points. While Ananya Jain stood third.
The first and second place players from these age groups will participate from UP team in Under-18 open age group and girls’ national competitions to be held from June 9-11.