MARGAO: The 38th National Under-13 Open and Girls Chess Championship 2025 began in style at Daivadnya Bhavan, Margao, with top seeds Siddhanth Poonja of Karnataka and WCM Aamuktha Guntaka of West Bengal both securing opening-round wins.
In the open section, top-seed Poonja (rating 2215) made a confident start on board one, defeating Maharashtra’s Kaveesh Kagwade (1603) in a keenly contested encounter. The clash underlined the gulf in experience and rating, but Kagwade fought hard before Poonja asserted his superiority.
In the girls section, the top-seeded Guntaka (2102) also began strongly, outplaying Delhi’s Adya Gupta (1464) on board one.