With the aim of gaining World and Asian Championships berths, chess prodigies from the country will vie for top honours in the 21st National under-9 championship at the St Joseph's Pre-University Composite College here from Friday.

Around 300 players will fight for top honours in the boys and girls sections in the eight-day meet. Top two players from each section will represent the country in the World under-10 championship while top three will be automatic choices for the Asian meet.

Karnataka over the years have done well in the event and last year it was the turn of Girish Koushik to lift the title. He then went on to win the world u-10 title. Though Girish is absent this year — having moved up to the higher age group — the State still has a few good prospects.

The Asian under-9 bronze medallist Satvik M (1914 FIDE rating), the State's highest FIDE-rated player in the under-9 category Akshay Bharadwaj (1923) and the ever-improving Arjun Roshik Bharat (1825) hold the key to State’s success. Andrea D'Souza, Meghana and Gangamma will shoulder the Karnataka hopes in the girls section in the 11-round championship.

Orissa's Siddhant Mohapatra (1996) and Gujarat's Sweety Patel (1993) are the top seeds in the boys and girls sections respectively. Given their recent good run, Andhra Pradesh boys Mohineesh and Revant Reddy will also demand attention.

In the girls section, under-8 world champion Ivana Furtado will be the one to watch. The Goan, called as the ‘Little Queen Of Chess’, will be keen to show the same form that made her the world champ.