Top seed Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa R and Women Grandmaster Nandhidhaa P V became the Asian Champions in the Open and Women’s sections respectively in the Asian Continental Chess Championship which concluded here at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Thursday.
Praggnanandhaa started the final round with a lead of half point over nearest contenders and drew his ninth-round encounter with compatriot B Adhiban in 63 moves to emerge as clear champion with seven points.
A six-way tie for the runner up position with six and half points was resolved by tie break score and Harsha Bharathakoti finished ahead of the rest while B Adhian completed the Indian domination with a third-place finish. Narayanan S L, Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan, Sethuraman S P and Karthik Venkataraman satisfied with fourth to seventh finish.
In the women’s category, Nandhidhaa drew her final round game against Divya Deshmukh to take her point tally to seven and half points to win the yellow metal.
Priyanka Nutakki, Divya Deshmukh and Thi Kim Phung Vo of Vietnam finished equal on six and half points but better tie break score helped Priyanka to finish as runner up. Divya finished third and Vo placed fourth.
Meanwhile Grandmaster Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan and Divya Deshmukh became the Asian Blitz champions in the open and women categories respectively.
In a befitting closing ceremony, Deputy President of Asian Chess Federation Mr. Bharat Singh Chauhan and General Secretary Mr. Hisham Al-Taher gave away the trophies and cash prizes to the winners.
Top Ten (Open): 1. GM Praggnanandhaa R 2. GM Harsha Bharathakoti 3. GM Adhiban B 4. GM Narayanan S L 5. GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan 6. GM Sethuraman S P 7. Karthik Venkataraman 8. IM Pranesh M 9. IM Viani Antonio Dcunha 10. Pranav Anand.
Women : 1. WGM Nandhidhaa P V 2. WGM Priyanka Nutakki 3. WGM Divya Deshmukh 4. WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam 5. FM Kurmangaliyeva Liya of Kazakhstan 6. Nguyen Thi Mai Hung of Vietnam 7. IM Padmini Rout 8. WIM Aakanksha Hagawane 9. IM Nisha Mohota 10. WGM Vantika Agrawal.
Results Round-9 (Open) Indians otherwise stated :- GM Adhiban B (6.5) drew with GM Praggnanandhaa R (7); GM Narayanan S L (6.5) drew with GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (6.5); GM Harsha Bharathakoti (6.5) drew with GM Karthik Venkataraman (6.5); GM Sethuraman S P (6.5) beat IM Koustav Chatterjee (5.5); IM Pranesh M (6) drew with GM Shyam Sundar M (6); GM Aravindh Chithambaram (6) beat GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (5); GM Raja Rithvik R (5.5) drew with GM Karthikeyan Murali (5.5); GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (5.5) drew with IM Samant Aditya S (5.5); GM Bilguun Sumiya of Mongolia (5) lost to GM Abhimanyu Puranik (6); IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (6) beat GM Leon Luke Mendonca (5).
Results Round-9 (Woman) :- WGM Divya Deshkumh (6.5) drew with WGM Nandhidhaa P V (7.5); WGM Priyanka Nutakki (6.5) beat IM Padmini Rout (6); IM Soumya Swaminathan (5) lost to WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (6.5); WIM Rakshitta Ravi (5) lost to FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (6); WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (5) lost to WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (6); IM Tania Sachdev (5) drew with WGM Vantika Agrawal (5.5); IM Nomin Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia (5.5) beat WGM Srija Seshadri (4.5); WFM Munkhzul Davaakhuu of Mongolia (4.5) lost to IM Eesha Karavade (5.5); WGM Mary Ann Gomes (5.5) beat WIM Saina Salonika (4.5); WIM Cholleti Sahajasri (4.5) lost to WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (5.5).
Results Round-8 (Open) :- Koustav Chatterjee lost to Praggnanandhaa R; Shamsiddin Vokhidov drew with Harsha Bharathakoti; Saparmyrat Atabayev lost to Narayanan S L; Leon Luke Mendonca lost to Adhiban B; Karthik Venkataraman beat Maksat Atabayev; Ayush Sharma lost to Sethuraman S P; Vignesh N R drew with Aravindh Chithamabaram; Karthikeyan Murali drew with Pranav Anand; Abhimanyu Puranik drew with Raja Rithvik; Pranv V lost to Pranesh M.
Results Round-8 (Woman) :- Nandhidhaa P V beat Soumya Swaminathan; Priyanka Nutakki lost to Divya Deshmukh; Padmini Rout beat Mary Ann Gomes; Vantika Agrawal drew with Kiran Manisha Mohanty; Vo Thi Kim Phung beat Cholleti Sahajasri; Thi Mai Hung Nguyen drew with Isha Sharma; Nisha Mohota drew with Tania Sachdev; Aakanksha Hagawane drew with Nomin Erdene Davaademberel; Eesha Karavade drew with Srija Seshadri; Enkhatuul Altan_Ulzii lost to Rakshitta Ravi.
Photo by Amit Sharma
Day – 7
Asian Continental heading for an exciting finish
The Asian Continental Chess Championship heading for a close finish as four players are now sharing the lead with just two rounds remaining.
The seventh round on Tuesday produced some exciting matches and unexpected results. On top board, leader Harsha Bharathakoti signed the peace treaty with second seed S L Narayanan while top-seeded Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won a marathon 137 move game against compatriot Karthikeyan Murali to move into joint lead with three others on five and half points.
International Master Koustav Chatterjee upset two-time national champion Aravindh Chithambaram to join Praggnanandhaa, Bharathakoti and Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan at the top. Member of Olympiad Gold medal winning Uzbekistan team, Vokhidov joined the leaders pack after defeating former Asian Champion S P Sethuraman.
A bunch of six players have five points and are in joint second spot. They are S L Narayanan, B Adhiban, Leon Luke Mendonca, Karthik Venkataraman and the Turkmenistan duo of Saparmyat Atabeyev and Maksat Atabayev.
In the women’s section, Nandhidhaa P V maintained her sole lead and unbeaten run with six point after seven rounds, after signing the peace treaty with Padmini Rout in 49 moves while Priyanka Nutakki following the heels of Nandhidhaa with a drift of half point after winning her seventh round against Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan.
Padmini Rout, Soumya Swaminathan and Divya Deshmukh are in joint third spot with five points. Soumya posted a win over Nisha Mohota while Divya put it across Rakshitta Ravi.
Important Results Round-7 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Narayanan S L (5) drew with Harsha Bharathakoti (5.5); GM Praggnanandhaa R (5.5) beat GM Karthikeyan Murali (4.5); GM Sethuraman S P (4.5) lost to GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (5.5); GM Aravindh Chithambaram (4.5) lost to Koustav Chatterjee (5.5); GM Adhiban B (5) drew with IM Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (5); GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (5) drew with GM Leon Luke Mendonca (5); IM Aditya Mitaal (4.5) drew with GM Abhimanyu Puranik (4.5); GM Raja Rithvik (4.5) drew with IM Pranav V (4.5); IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete (4.5) drew with GM Shyam Sundar M (4.5); IM Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan (4) lost to Karthik Venkataraman (5); GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (4) drew with IM Pranesh M (4.5); IM Anuj Shrivatri (3.5) lost to Sankalp Gupta (4.5); IM Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan (4) drew with IM Shyaamnikhil P (4); FM Ritviz Parab (3.5) lost to IM Vignesh N R (4.5).
Women’s Round-7 :- WGM Nandhidhaa P V(6) drew with IM Padmini Rout (5); WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (4) lost to WGM Priyanka Nutakki (5.5); WGM Mary Ann Gomes (4.5) drew with WGM Vantika Agrawal (4.5); WIM Rakshitta Ravi (4) lost to WGM Divya Deshmukh (5); WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (4.5) drew with WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (4.5); IM Soumya Swaminathan (5) beat IM Nisha Mohota (4); IM Tania Sachdev (4) drew with Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (4); WIM Cholleti Sahajasri (4.5) beat WIM Saina Salonika (3.5); WGM Srija Seshadri (4) drew with Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (4); WIM Sakshi Chitlange (3.5) lost to WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (4.5).
Photo by Shahid Ahmed
Day – 6
Harsha maintains sole lead; Nandhidhaa grabs lead in Women
Overnight sole leader Grandmaster Harsha Bharathakoti held top seed Praggnanandhaa R in the sixth round to maintain his sole lead with five points in the ongoing Asian Continental Chess Championship here on Monday.
Playing white side of Catalan opening, Harsha exchanged the pieces with his top seed at regular intervals to sign the peace treaty after 33 moves. A pack of eleven players including Prgganandhaa now trailing behind the leader with a drift of half point.
In other important battles in the sixth round, Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca drew with Sethuraman S P while Karthikeyan Murali split the point with compatriot Grandmaster B Adhiban. Second seed Narayanan S L moved closer with a win over Sandipan Chanda while Aravindh Chithambaram got the better of Ayush Sharma.
In the women’s section, Nandhidhaa P V grabbed the sole lead after beating fellow team mate Priyanka Nutakki in the sixth round. Playing with dark pieces in the Alapin Variation of Sicilian Defense, Nandhidhaa capitalized the positional mistake committed by her opponent in the middle game to garner full point from the outing to take her point tally to five and half points. She now enjoys a solid one point lead over nearest contenders Padmini Rout and Priyanka Nutakki with three rounds remaining.
After a sedate start, 2018 edition winner third seed Padmini Rout found her rhythm back to beat sixth seed Nilufur Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan to follow the leader with four and half points. In the crucial seventh round encounter on Tuesday, Padmini takes on Nandhidhaa while Priyanka paired against Yakubbaeva.
Important Results Round-6 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Harsha Bharathakoti (5) drew with Praggnanandhaa R (4.5); GM Leon Luke Mendonca (4.5) drew with GM Sethuraman S P (4.5); GM Karthikeyan Murali (4.5) drew with GM Adhiban B (4.5); GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (4.5) drew with GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (4.5); GM Sandipan Chanda (3.5) lost to GM Narayanan S L (4.5); FM Ayush Sharma (3.5) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (3.5); IM Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (4.5) beat GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (3.5); IM Pranav V (4) drew with IM Aditya Mittal (4); GM Shyam Sundar M (4) drew with IM Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan (4); IM Koustav Chatterjee (4.5) beat IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (3.5); GM Abhimanyu Puranik (4) beat IM Ajay Karthikeyan (3); GM Sankalp Gupta (3.5) drew with IM Nigmatov Ortik (3.5); GM Deep Sengupta (3) lost to IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete (4); IM Shyaamnikhil P (3.5) drew with IM Anuj Shrivatri (3.5); GM Karthik Venkataraman (4) beat IM Amartuvshin Ganzorig of Mongolia (3).
Women’s Round-6 :- WGM Priyanka Nutakki (4.5) lost to WGM Nandhidhaa P V (5.5); IM Padmini Rout (4.5) beat WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (4); WGM Divya Deshmukh (4) drew with IM Soumya Swaminathan (4); WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (4) drew with WGM Mary Ann Gomes (4); WGM Vantika Agrawal (4) beat Cholleti Sahajasri (3.5); WIM Saina Salonika (3.5) drew with IM Tania Sachdev (3.5); WGM Enkhtuul ALtan-Ulzii of Mongolia (3) lost to WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (4); WIM Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (3.5) drew with WFM Srishti Pandey (3.5); IM Nisha Mohota (4) beat WIM Xeniya Balabayeva of Kazakhstan (3); WIM Rakshitta Ravi (4) beat WGM Varshini V (3).
Photo by Shahid Ahmed
Day – 5
Harsha beats Koustav to snatch lead
Twelfth seed Harsha Bharathakoti continued his fine form and put it across International Master Koustav Chatterjee to snatch the sole lead on four and half point after the end of fifth round matches of the Asian Continental Chess Championship here at the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Sunday.
Playing with light coloured pieces in a Scotch game, Harsha exerted pressure on his rival’s territory to secure advantage in the middle game to garner full point after 49 moves. A pack of seven Grandmasters including top seed Praggnanandhaa are now trailing behind the leader with a drift of half point. Praggnanandhaa split the point with Leon Luke Mendonca while other overnight leaders Maksat Atabayev Maksat of Turkmenistan and Karthikeyan Murali signed the peace treaty.
Sethuraman S P, B Adhiban and Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan are giving company to Praggnanandhaa, Karthikeyan Murali, Leon Luke Mendonca and Atabayev at point table with emphatic victories in the fifth round against Raja Rithvik, Sammed Jaykumar Shete and Sanket Chakravarty respectively. In the crucial sixth round match on Monday Praggnanandhaa takes on leader Harsha with dark colour pieces while Mendonca paired against Sethuraman, Adhiban takes on Karthikeyan Murali and Shamsiddin paired against Atabayev.
Meanwhile in the Women’s section, Woman Grandmasters Nandhidhaa P V and Priyanka Nutakki scored victories over Thi Kim Phung Vo of Vietnam and Soumya Swaminathan respectively to become joint leaders with four and half points.
Playing white side of the French Defense game, Nandhidhaa dominated her Vietnamese rival throughout the match to secure full point after 87 moves while Priyanka made an exchange sacrifice to use her double bishop combo to annihilate her International Master rival in just 30 moves.
Important Results Round-5 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Praggnanandhaa R (4) drew with Leon Luke Mendonca (4); GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (4) drew with GM Karthikeyan Murali (4); GM Harsha Bharathakoti (4.5) beat IM Koustav Chatterjee (3.5); GM Narayanan S L (3.5) drew with GM Shyam Sundar M (3.5); GM Sethuraman S P (4) beat GM Raja Rithvik R (3); GM Aravindh Chithambaram (3.5) drew with IM Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (3.5); GM Adhiban B (4) beat IM Sameed Jaykumar Shete (3); Sanket Chakravarty (3) to GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (4); IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (3.5) drew with GM Abhimanyu Puranik (3); GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (3.5) beat GM Bilguun Sumiya of Mongolia (2.5); GM Mitrabha Guha (2.5) lost to IM Pranav V (3.5); IM Aditya Samant (3) drew with GM Sankalp Gupta (3); IM Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan (3.5) beat IM Pranav Anand (2.5); IM Yusup Atabayev of Turkmenistan (2.5) lost to FM Ayush Sharma (3.5); IM Ajay Karthikeyan (3) drew with IM Shyaamnikhil P (3).
Women’s Round-5 :- WGM Nandhidhaa P V(4.5) beat WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (3.5); IM Soumya Swaminathan (3.5) lost to WGM Priyanka Nutakki (4.5); WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (4) beat WIM Saina Salonika (3); WGM Mary Ann Gomes (3.5) beat WIM Rakshitta Ravi (3); IM Tania Sachdev (3) drew with WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (3); FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2.5) lost to IM Padmini Rout (3.5); WIM Xeniya Balabayeva of Kazakhstan (3) drew with WGM Vantika Agrawal (3); WIM Sakshi Chitlange (2.5) lost to WGM Divya Deshmukh (3.5); WIM Cholleti Sahajasri (3.5) beat WIM Parnali S Dharia (2.5); WGM Varshini V (3) drew with WIM Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (3)
Photos by Aditya Sur Roy & Shahid Ahmed
Day – 4
Priyanka and Saina sizzles
After an five hours grueling battle, eleventh seed Woman Grandmaster Priyanka Nuttaki shocked top seed and former Asian Women Champion Tania Sachdev while continuing her fine form in the event Saina Salonika downs fourth seed and 2016 edition winner Bhakti Kulkarni in the fourth round of Asian Continental Women’s Chess Championship which is now underway at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Saturday.
While in the Open section, top seed Praggnanandhaa R defeated IM Pranav Anand to join overnight sole leader Leon Luke Mendonca and four others in the leaders board. Pragganandhaa and Mendonca now have the company of compatriot Karthikeyan Murali, Harsha Bharathakoti, Turkmenistan Grandmaster Maksat Atabayev and International Master Koustav Chatterjee are sharing the lead with three and half points.
On top board Mendonca showed great defensive skill to hold second seed Narayanan S L while Karthikeyan Murali outwitted Aditya Mittal in a fine crafted play with a pair of bishops. Harsha Bharthakoti joined the leaders after capitalizing crucial errors made by his Indian Grandmaster rival Sandipan Chanda while Koustav Chatterjee had a lucky escape against Kazakh No. 1 Grandmaster Rinat Jumabayev to secure full point from the outing. The lone non-Indian among the leaders, Atabayev got the better of Grandmaster Aryan Chopra in a long battle that ended after 90 moves.
In other important encounters in the Women’s section, Nandhidhaa P V beat Vantika Agrawal while Vietnamese Women Grandmaster Vo Thi Kim Phung defeated Liya Kurmangaliyeva to be at joint leaders position along with Priyanka, Nandhidhaa and Soumya Swaminathan, who beat Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam in the fourth round encounter.
Important Results Round-4 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Leon Luke Mendonca (3.5) drew with GM Narayanan S L (3); IM Pranav Anand (2.5) lost to GM Praggnanandhaa R (3.5); IM Aditya Mittal (2.5) lost to GM Karthikeyan Murali (3.5); IM Koustav Chatterjee (3.5) beat GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (2.5); GM Raja Rithvik (3) drew with GM Adhiban B (3); GM Sandipan Chanda (2.5) lost to GM Harsha Bharathakoti (3.5); GM Shyam Sundar M (3) drew with IM Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (3); GM Aryan Chopra (2) lost to Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (3.5); IM Pranesh M (2) lost to GM Sethuraman S P (3); IM Srihari L R (2) lost to GM Aravindh Chithambaram (3); GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2.5) drew with IM Aditya Samant (2.5); GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan (3) beat IM Amartuvshin Ganzorig of Mongolia (2); IM Alisher Suleymenov of Kazakhstan (2) lost to Sanket Chakravarty (3); IM Samed Jaykumar Shete (3) beat GM Batchuluun Tsegmed of Mongolia (2); GM Karthik Venkataraman (2.5) drew with Nitish Belurkar (2.5).
Women’s Round-4 :- WGM Priyanka Nutakki (3.5) beat IM Tania Sachdev (2.5); WGM Vantika Agrawal (2.5) lost to WGM Nandhidhaa P V (3.5); WIM Rakshitta Ravi (3) drew with WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (3); WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (3.5) beat FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2.5); WM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (2.5) lost to IM Soumya Swaminathan (3.5); WIM Saina Salonika (3) beat IM Bhakti Kulkarni (2); WGM Divya Deshmukh (2.5) drew with WIM Cholleti Sahajasri (2.5); WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (2.5) drew with WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2.5); IM Padmini Rout (2.5) beat WIM Mrudul Dehankar (1.5); IM Nisha Mohota (2) drew with IM Eesha Karavade (2).
Photos by Shahid Ahmed
Day – 3
Mendonca noses ahead in Asian Continental
Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca defeated Mongolian Grandmaster Batchuluun Tsegmed to emerge as the sole leader on perfect score after the end of the third round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship now underway here at the Leela Ambience.
On what turned out to be a tough day for the Mongolian, Mendonca capitalized on most of the opportunities offered by his rival and took the point home.
In other important encounters, two-time Indian national champion Karthikeyan Murali missed the opportunity to garner full point and satisfied with half point against Koustav Chatterjee on top board while top seed Praggnanandhaa and second seed Narayanan S L got better off Pranesh M and Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan respectively.
In the women’s section, continuing her impressive show Kazakh girl Liya Kurmangaliyeva held International Master Soumya Swaminathan to a creditable draw while Woman International Master Saina Salonika shocked second seed Nomin Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia. It’s second defeat for the second seeded Mongolian in three matches as she suffered a setback in the opening round against Kurmangaliyeva. Ten players including top seed Tanaia Sachdev, who defeated Kiran Manisha Mohanty are now sharing the lead with two half points.
Important Results Round-3 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Karthikeyan Murali (2.5) drew with IM Koustav Chatterjee (2.5); GM Adhiban B (2.5) drew with GM Sandipan Chanda (2.5); GM Batchuluun Tsegmed of Mongolia (2) lost to GM Leon Luke Mendonca (3); GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (2.5) drew with GM Shyam Sundar M (2.5); IM Pranav Anand (2.5) drew with GM Raja Rithvik R (2.5); GM Praggnanandhaa R (2.5) beat IM Pranesh M (2); GM Narayanan S L (2.5) beat IM Arystanbek Urazayev of Kazakhstan (1.5); GM Sethuraman S P (2) drew with GM Bilguun Sumiya of Mongolia (2); GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (2.5) beat GM Laxman R R (1.5); GM Mitrabha Guha (2) drew with GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2); GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2.5) beat FM Sambit Panda (1.5); IM Samant Aditya (2) drew with GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan (2); IM Nitish Belurkar (2) drew with Alisher Suleymenov of Kazakhstan (2); IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (2.5) beat IM Shyaamnikhil P (1.5); IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (2) drew with GM Karthik Venkataraman (2).
Women’s Round-3 :- IM Soumya Swaminathan (2.5) drew with FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2.5); WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (2.5) drew with WIM Rakshitta Ravi (2.5); IM Tania Sachdev (2.5) beat WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (2); WIM Isha Sharma lost to WGM Vantika Agrawal (2.5); WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (2.5) beat WIM Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (1.5); WGM Srishti Pandey (1.5) lost to WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnama (2.5); WIM Aashna Makhija (1.5) lost to WGM Priyanka Nutakki (2.5); WGM Swati Ghate (1.5) lost to WGM Nandhidhaa P V (2.5); IM Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia (1) lost to WIM Saina Salonika (2); Xeniya Balabayeva of Kazakhstan (1.5) drew with IM Padmini Rout (1.5); IM Bhakti Kulkarni (2) beat WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (1); WGM Munkhzul Davaakhuu of Mongolia (1) lost to WGM Divya Deshmukh (2); IM Eesha Karavade (1.5) drew with WIM Parnali S Dharia (1.5); WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2) beat WCM Jannatul Ferdous of Bangladesh (1); WIM Sakshi Chitlange (1.5) drew with WGM Gulmira Dauletova of Kazakhstan (1.5).
Photo by Shahid Ahmed
Day – 2
Pranesh downs Aravindh; Atabayev shocks Nodirbek
Indian Sub-Junior champion International Master Pranesh M scored an upset victory over two time national champion and sixth seed Aravindh Chithambaram while third seed and member of Uzbekistan team which won Olympiad Gold Grandamster Nodirbek Yakubboev suffered a major setback to his title hopes and suffered shock defeat by the hands of Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan in the second round of ongoing Asian Continental Chess Championship here at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Thursday.
After a creditable draw against the top seed Praggnanandhaa in the opening round, Atabayev shown his class again to defeat his fancied rival in 57 moves arrived out of English Opening while playing with dark pieces in Kalashnikov variation of Sicilian defence, Aravindh faced time pressure towards first time control and failed to recover from a cramped position to handover full point to his younger rival.
Meanwhile in the Women’s section also there was no dearth for excitement as opting for classical variation of Scotch Game, Rakshitta Ravi defeated former Asian Women’s Champion Bhakti Kulkarni on top board while Sakshi Chitlange who held top seed Tania Sachdev in the opening round held Padmini Rout to a creditable draw. Vietnamese Women Grandmaster Thi Mai Hung Nguyen defeated Indian women champion Divya Deshmukh while FIDE Master Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan outwitted Women Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes.
In other important encounters in the second round, second seed S L Narayanan signed the peace treaty with Mongolian Grandmaster Bilguun Sumiya while fourth seed Sethuraman split the point with Arystanbek Urazayev of Kazakhstan. Delhi’s Aaryan Varshney defeated International Master Abdisalimov Abdimalik of Uzbekistan while FIDE Masters Ritviz Parab and Sambit Panda outwitted Grandmasters Arjun Kalyan and P Iniyan respectively. Ninth seed Abhijeet Gupta suffered a second upset on the trot against Tologon Tegin Semetei of Kyrgyzstan. After the minor setback in the opening round, top seed Praggnanndhaa defeated Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan.
Important Results Round-2 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Bilgunn Sumiya of Mongolia (1.5) drew with GM Narayanan S L (1.5); IM Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan (1.5) drew with GM Sethuraman S P (1.5); IM Pranesh M (2) beat GM Aravindh Chithambaram (1); GM Karthikeyan Murali (2) beat GM Venkatesh M R (1); IM Srihari L R (1) lost to GM Adhiban B (2); GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (1.5) drew with IM Nitish Belurkar (1.5); GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2) beat IM Amartuvshin Ganzorig of Mongolia (1); GM Shaym Sundar M (2) beat FM Saidakbar Saydaliev of Uzbekistan (1); FM Azat Nurmamedov of Turkmenistan (1) lost to IM Pranav Anand (2); IM Koustav Chatterjee (2) beat IM Krishna Teja N (1); Sanket Chakravarty (1) lost to GM Batchuluun Tsegmed of Mongolia (2); IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (1.5) drew with IM Aditya Mittal (1.5); Soltan Muradov of Turkmenistan (1) lost to GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (2); GM Sandipan Chanda (2) beat FM Sharan Rao (1); IM Saravana Krishnan (1.5) drew with GM Mitrabha Guha (1.5).
Women’s Round-2 :- WIM Rakshitta Ravi (2) beat IM Bhakti Kulkarni (1); WGM Divya Deshmukh (1) lost to WGM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung of Vietnam (2); WIM Saina Salonika (1) lost to IM Soumya Swaminathan (2); WGM Priyanka Nutakki (1.5) drew with WFM Srishti Pandey (1.5); FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2) beat WGM Mary Ann Gomes (1); WIM Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (1.5) drew with WGM Swati Ghate (1.5); WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (2) beat WIM Xeniya Balabayeva of Kazakhstan (1); WCM Jannatul Ferdous of Bangladesh (1) lost to WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (1.5); IM Tania Sachdev (1.5) beat WGM Srija Seshadri (.5); IM Padmini Rout (1) drew with WIM Sakshi Chitlange (1).
Photos by Shahid Ahmed & Chessbase India
Day – 1
Asian Continental Chess Championship starts; tough day for top seeds
The Asian Continental Chess Championship-2022 got off to a rousing start here at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Wednesday. 140 players from 13 Asian countries which include 31 Grandmasters, 46 International Masters, 14 Women Grandmasters and 17 Women International Masters are participating in this nine day long prestigious championship to decide the Asian champion. Apart from Asian supremacy, the event serves as qualification for the next year’s World Cup as the top four players in the Open and two players in the women’s category will secure their berth in the World cup.
On the opening day, top seeds and favourites Praggnandhaa and Tania Sachdev started their championship campaign with draws while ninth seed Abhijeet Gupta and women’s second seed Nomin Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia suffered shock defeats to be the biggest casualties. Turkmenistan’s Saparmyrat Atabayev forced Pragganandhaa to sign the peace treaty after 47 moves while Tania settled for half point against Sakshi Chitlange after 26 moves that ended with three-fold repetition of moves. Gupta suffered a shock defeat by the hand of Amartuvshin Ganzorig of Mongolia and Liya Kurmangaliyeva got the better of Davaademberel.
In other upsets of the day, untitled Sanket Chakravarthy outwitted Grandmaster Arjun Kalyan while Sharan Rao outwitted Grandmaster Deep Sengupta. S Nitin and Moksh Amit Doshi held Kazakh Grandmaster Rinat Jumabayev and fifth seed Aryan Chopra respectively in the first round.
Photos by Shahid Ahmed & Aditya Sur Roy