National U-18 Online Rapid Championship: Rindhiya elevated as champion after Kheerthi, Riya suspension

The AICF confirmed the elevation of Tamil Nadu’s V. Rindhiya as the champion after the recently-crowned G. Kheerthi and runner-up Riya Mishra were suspended for cheating.

Tamil Nadu’s V. Rindhiya was elevated as the National U-18 Online Rapid Chess champion after two girls were suspended for cheating.

The spectre of cheating in online chess events is threatening to take roots. Two more cases came to the fore on Monday when the recently-crowned National under-18 rapid online champion G. Kheerthi and runner-up Riya Mishra were suspended for cheating.

The All India Chess Federation secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan also confirmed the elevation of Tamil Nadu’s V. Rindhiya to the top spot, followed by Bristy Mukherjee (Bengal) and Dhyana Patel (Gujarat).

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“After we received complaints and the Fair Play report from the broadcast platform, all five members of the Fair Play committee - Grandmasters Tejas Bakre, M. R. Lalith Babu, N. Srinath and International Masters Rakesh Kulkarni and Akshat Khamparia - were unanimous in their decision to suspend the two girls," he said.

Meanwhile, in the National under-16 online rapid championship, M. Pranesh, Aaryan Varshney and Aditya Mittal shared the lead with 6.5 points from seven rounds. In the girls’ section, Dhyana Patel and Aahana Pachchigar were ahead at 6.5 points.