— File Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

SMILE SAYS IT ALL: Tania Sachdev was in brilliant form and emerged winner unscathed.

Chennai: Tania Sachdev of Delhi was crowned the new champion when she won the 33rd Win TV National Women's `A' chess championship here on Saturday.

It all happened after a full session of suspense and action on the top three boards. Only Tania remained unbeaten in the 33-player event. She won five games and drew the rest six, including the last round against former world under-18 girls' champion Aarthie Ramesh, to reach a career high.

"My ambition is to keep improving and play in more events in 2007," said a delighted Tania. She is in the Indian team for the first time and would be representing the country in all the official events in 2007. She is the 13th player ever to win the National Women's tournament being held since 1974.

Final placings: 1. Tania Sachdev (IA) 8/11, 2-4 D. Harika (AP), S. Meenakshi (IA), Aarthie Ramesh (IA) 7.5 each, 5-6 S. Vijayalakshmi (IA), Amruta Mokal (Mah) 7 each, 7-11 Swati Ghate (LIC), Nisha Mohota (Ben), Padmini Rout (Ori), S. Soumya (Mah), Baisakhi Das (Jha) 6.5 each, 12-15 Eesha Karavade (Mah), Kruttika Nadig (Mah), Sai Meera (IB), Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) 6 each.

The results (round 11): Aarthie Ramesh (IA) 7.5 drew with Tania Sachdev (IA) 8, S. Vijayalakshmi (IA) 7 lost to Amruta Mokal (Mah) 7, D. Harika (AP) 7.5 drew with N. Mohota (Ben) 6.5, S. Meenakshi (IA) 7.5 bt Kruttika Nadig (Mah) 6, Eesha Karavade (Mah) 6 drew with S. Ghate (LIC) 6.5, R. Sanggeetha (TN) 5.5 lost to Padmini Rout (Ori) 6.5, Baisakhi Das (Jha) 6.5 bt Saheli Nath (Ben) 5.5, S. Soumya (Mah) 6.5 bt S. Mohota (Ben) 5.5, Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) 6 bt S. Harini (TN) 5.5, Sai Meera (TN) 6 bt Kiran Mohanty (Ori) 5, I. Ramyakrishna (AP) 5.5 bt Nimmy George (Ker) 4.5, H. Nilavoli (TN) 4.5 lost to P. Priya (TN) 5.5, N. Raghavi (TN) 4.5 drew with Kanuri Tejaswi (AP) 4.5, R. Mahima (TN) 4.5 drew with S. Sujatha (TN) 4.5, Pon N. Krithikha (TN) 4.5 bt P. Lakshmi Sahithi (AP) 4, Aabha Thakur (Mah) 4 drew with J.E. Kavitha (TN) 4, R. Preethi (TN) 4.5 - bye.

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