Divya Deshmukh added another significant title to her already impressive collection on Thursday. The 18-year-old from Nagpur won the World junior girls’ chess championship after beating Bulgaria’s Beloslava Krasteva in the final round at the Gift City Club.
The top-seeded Divya finished with 10 points, out of a possible 11, as she remained unbeaten, winning nine games and drawing two. The title in the open section was claimed by Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek, whose win in the last round against the sole overnight leader Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia took him to 8.5 points.
Armenia’s Emin Ohanyan had already scored 8.5 points, thanks to his victory against Daniel Quizon of the Philippines. A better tie-break score gave the title to Nogerbek, seeded ninth.
Luka Budisavljevic of Serbia finished third. Pranav Anand, who began as the third seed, was the best-placed Indian at 10th.
In the girls’ section, Mariam Mkrtchyan took the runner-up spot after finishing half a point behind Divya. Azerbaijan’s Ayan Allahverdiyeva was third
