Daijiworld Media Network—Belgaum (CN)

Belgaum, Aug 7: The Karnataka State Sub-junior Girls Chess Championship 2009 began at S G Balekundry Memorial Hall in Belgaum on Thursday August 6 as part of the Karnataka State Sub-junior FIDE Rating Chess Championship 2009.

The five-day, nine-round FIDE Rating Chess Championship will conclude on Saturday August 8. It has been organized by the Belgaum District Chess Association in association with Lions Club Midtown, Belgaum, on behalf of the United Karnataka Chess Association.

 In the girls segment, 26 players from different parts of the state are participating.

Shristi J Shetty of Shimoga is the top seed with 1935 ELO points. Neha Patkar of Shimoga, Gangamma B N of Mysore, as well as Shalon Joanne Pais and Lenita Mathais of Mangalore are the other ELO-rated players.

The girls will play five rounds in three days. Shristi, the silver medallist in the Commonwealth Under-14 category, played Akshatha R of Shimoga. Playing with black, Akshtha opted for the Petroff defence. But Shristi won the game in 27 moves.