Defending champion Padmini Rout of Odisha, who won the title with a round to spare, lost to K. Priyanka of Tamil Nadu in the 11th and final round of the RamRatna 42nd National Premier chess championship at ICCR on Tuesday. Padmini, however, retained her one-point margin as Swati Ghate was outwitted by Soumya Swaminathan.
The results (11th and final round): Padmini Rout (Odi) 8.5 lost to K. Priyanka (TN) 3; Soumya Swaminathan (PSPB) 7.5 bt Swati Ghate (LIC) 7.5; Neha Singh (Bih) 1 lost to Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) 7.5; Pratyusha Bodda (AP) 6.5 lost to N. Priyanka (AP) 4.5; Michelle Catherina (TN) 4.5 lost to R. Vaishali (TN) 6.5; V. Varshini (TN) 4 lost to Tania Sachdev (AI) 5.
Final standings: 1. Padmini Rout 8.5 , 2. Soumya Swaminathan 7.5 (tie-break-37.75), 3. Bhakti Kukarni 7.5 (33.75), 4. Swati Ghate 7.5 (33.50), 5. Pratyusha Bodda 6.5 (31.75), 6. R. Vaishali 6.5 (29.75), 7. Tania Sachdev 5, 8. Michelle Catherina 4.5 (20.50) , 9. N. Priyanka 4.5 (17.25), 10. V. Varshini 4, 11. K. Priyanka 3, and 12. Neha Singh 1.