Sahithi Varshini named best woman player at Juraflore International Chess Tournament

International Master Moogi Sahithi Varshini was adjudged the best woman player at the Juraflore International Chess Tournament in France. The Visakhapatnam player gained 30 FIDE rating points and moved a step closer to achieving the prestigious Woman Grandmaster title

Hyderabad: Moogi Sahithi Varshini, who earlier achieved the distinction of becoming the first woman player from Visakhapatnam to earn the International Master (IM) title, added another feather to her cap by being adjudged the ‘best woman player’ in the Juraflore International Chess Tournament at Les Rousses, France.

“The tournament featured a strong field comprising several Grandmasters and International Masters from across the world. During the nine-round event, Sahithi faced four International Masters and one Grandmaster,” said her father-cum-coach M Lokeswara Rao, himself a former national-level PSPB player.

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“Sahithi scored an impressive five points from nine rounds, earning 30 valuable FIDE rating points and improving her live classical rating from 2264 to 2294,” the proud father informed Telangana Today.

Sahithi, a student of BEA at Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan, Kapuluppada, notched up impressive wins against strong Indian IMs Audi Ameya and Subhayan Kundu, he said.

“This is the kind of performance that should boost her confidence to a great extent as she inches closer to achieving the prestigious Woman Grandmaster title. Having already crossed the 2300 FIDE rating mark in the past and secured one Woman Grandmaster norm, she now requires two more WGM norms to earn the title,” Rao said.

For the record, Sahithi was a member of the Indian women’s team at the Chess Olympiad, where she represented the country with distinction and won nine international medals. She was adjudged the ‘best female’ player in the 2022 Mangus Chess Challenge and finished runner-up in the Biel Grandmasters tournament in Switzerland earlier.

The winner of the Asian Championship titles (under-10 and under-12), besides clinching the Commonwealth Championship gold (under-10) in the past, Sahithi is keen to keep improving with each tournament.

“The ultimate target is to become the world champion,” Sahithi insisted.

And, like the famous Koneru Humpy-Koneru Ashok daughter-father duo in the world of chess, Sahithi and her father are keen to script a few more success stories at the highest level.

Given the fact that Sahithi once outwitted former world champion Mariya Muzychuk and also the world’s youngest GM Abhimanyu Mishra, she has every reason to dream big and realise her goals.