SUBHASH MISHRA
Ranchi, July 29: Jamshedpur’s Pritam Singh reaffirmed his dominance in Jharkhand chess by winning the state championship for an unprecedented 13th time.
The veteran player emerged victorious in the 24th Jharkhand State FIDE Chess Championship, held for the Aditya Birla Memorial Trophy in Ranchi, finishing with the highest score of 8 points in nine rounds.
In the final round, Pritam Singh, an Income Tax officer, defeated Palamu’s Sudhakar Prem Dutt (7 points). After skipping the previous edition, Singh made a strong comeback, continuing a winning streak that began during the united Bihar era.
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West Singhbhum Players Dominate Podium
Players from West Singhbhum showcased exceptional form, securing positions from 2nd to 5th in the championship. Tanishk Kumar of Chaibasa matched Pritam Singh with 8 points, but had to settle for second place on progressive points. In the last round, Tanishk defeated title favorite Rohan Vijay Sandilya (7 points).
Manish Sharma and Kamal Kishore Deonath, both from West Singhbhum, finished 3rd and 4th respectively with 7.5 points each. Manish defeated Krishna Kumar Saw (6.5) of Hazaribagh, while Kamal outplayed Rajesh Kumar (6.5) of Chaibasa. Ranchi’s veteran, B.C. Tripathi, secured 5th position with 7 points, beating Jamshedpur’s Navieka Jaiswal (6 points).
Top 10 Rankings See Close Contests
Manideep Mukhi (Chaibasa) also scored 7 points to finish 6th after a drawn match with East Singhbhum’s Arjit Ghosh (7 points). Dhanbad’s Ishant Kumar (7 points) claimed 7th position, defeating Jamshedpur’s Abhishek Kumar (6). Jamshedpur’s Samrat Singh also scored 7 points, beating Ranchi’s Vikash Kumar Sinha (6) to take 8th place.
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Other top finishers included Hazaribagh’s Sikandar Anis (7 points) at 9th and Dhanbad’s Vedant Rajesh (7 points) at 10th. Both scored crucial wins in the final round—Anis beating Kar Rahul Kumar of Jamshedpur and Vedant defeating Hazaribagh’s Rishav Kumar. Veteran player Bhola Nath Das also ended with 7 points after defeating Shailesh Kumar (6) of Hazaribagh.
West Singhbhum District Chess Association’s General Secretary, Basant Khandelwal, congratulated his district’s players for their outstanding performance and dominance in the state championship.
