National Chess Champion, 2017 Lalith Babu

Chess is one of the most intriguing and engaging games one can ever play or witness. It is also known as the game for “brainy” and one with the most tactics involved. Chess has evolved over the years as one of the most competitive and tricky to master and surpass, with the already existing champions. But it is not so, if you know the game well, practice, learn and explore, and with the passion and love to excel in the game, you definitely will.

We hear of the annual events and Olympic events being held and several participants, qualifying and out of all, one winning the title. The National Premier Chess Championship is the annual national chess championship of India. It was established in 1955 by the Andhra State Chess Association as a biannual event, but since 1971 it has been played yearly.

Lalith Babu wins the National chess championship

Scoring nine points was crowned as the undisputed National Premier Chess Champion, thanks to Odisha’s grandmaster Debashis Das, who defeated the only other title seeker Aravindh Chithambaram of Tamil Nadu in the Khadi India National Premier Chess Championship, organized by All Bihar Chess Association at Lemon Tree Hotel, Patna

Defending champion Karthikeyan could muster only the third position with 7.5 points. Debashis and S L Narayanan of Kerala were placed fourth and fifth with a same number of points.
Aravindh’s preferred Kings Indian defense was not beneficial to him, as Debashis attained a good positional advantage on the 12th move itself.

[caption id=”attachment_436" align=”aligncenter” width=”970"]

Picture Credits: Chess Base India[/caption]

Since a draw or a defeat did not affect his runner-up finish, Aravindh went all out for a win. However, he missed a tactical stroke from Debashis who offered his queen as part of a series of exchanges. Just when it became clear that Debashis would end up with an extra bishop on the board, a dejected Aravindh gave up.
Lalit, not happy with his play against Swapnil, was joyous with Debashis victory that not only gave him the title but also ensured his presence in the Indian team for the next Olympiad.

Final standing

At the end of National Championship, the scores were:

• Lalith making it to the top as a winner with 9 points.
• Aravindh being the runners’ up with 8.5 points.
• Standing steadfast at the third, fourth and fifth position are Karthikeyan, Dabashis, and Narayanan with 7.5 points respectively.
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• Picture Credits: Chess Base India[/caption]
• On the sixth and seventh place stand Nitin and Arghyadip with 7 points each.
• On the eight and ninth place are Kunte and Laxman scoring 6.5 points each.
• following the lead, are Deepan and Swapnil with 6 points.
• Shyaam with 5 points, Sammed with 4 and Himanshu with 3 are in the line for the best chess players of our nation.

Chess is a fine game and it needs promotion and emphasis as much as any other sport does. It not only increases ones’ ability to think logically and critically with regards to the game, which later on goes on for every aspect of life. One gets witty, sharp and quick with the things that consider the scenario that involves thinking at a high level and critically.

Play chess, develop stronger instincts!