Chinese surge. GM Ni Hua (seated right) beat India’s GM Adhiban. Standing behind him is co-leader. Bu Xiangzhi
Round 7
Former Asian Games champion GM Rustam Kasimjanov of Uzbekistan and three Chinese GMs share the lead with 5.5 points each after seven rounds of the Asian Continental Chess Championships at the Sharjah Chess Club in Sharjah, UAE. Top seed Bu Xiangzhi, Yu Yangyi and Ni Hua tie for the lead at the homestretch of the 9-round tournament.
In the women’s division, former Asian Women’s champion Irene Sukandar of Indonesia maintained solo lead with 6.5 points after 7 rounds. A full point behind alone in second slot is WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran.
In the Open, Kasimjanov and Yu Yangyi drew by 3-time repetition of position in only 14 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined. Ni Hua used the Gruenfeld Defense and transposed to a minor piece endgame with the advantage of Bishop for Knight and was escorting his outside passed pawn to promotion when Adhiban resigned on the 63rd move. Top seed Bu Xiangzhi crushed the Nimzo Indian defense of GM Krishnan Sasikiran. Bu sacrificed a Rook on the 30th move to make Black’s king march across the board. About to lose his Queen, Sasikiran resigned on the 43rd move.
Adhiban and two others follow a half point behind the leaders at 5 points each, namely GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan. Ghaem Maghami crushed the Gruenfeld defense of GM Wei Yi of China in a see-saw sacrificial battle. The Iranian transposed to the endgame with a Rook against Bishop and showed his technical prowess to promote his pawn and force resignation on the 61st move.
Jumabayev used the Colle system to beat GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh who had to give up his Knight on the 52nd move to prevent pawn promotion and resigned on move 64.
Local hero Saleh A.R. Salem of the UAE and six other players follow with 4.5 points each, namely Indian GMs Negi Parimarjan, Deep Sengupta, Abhijeet Gupta and S.P. Sethuraman, Batchulun Tsegmed of Mongolia and Wen Yang of China.
Leadership in the women’s is clearer with Sukandar and Pourkashiyan in first and second pole positions. Sukandar crushed the Caro Kann defense of WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam. The Indonesian sacrificed a Bishop on the 19th move and threatened inevitable mate to force resignation two moves later. Pourkashiyan smashed the French Defense of WIM Gong Qianyun of Singapore who blundered a piece away and resigned on the 53rd move.
The tournament is open free to spectators at the Sharjah Chess Club. Games are broadcast live over the official site http://asianchesscont-shj2014.com/ with games download, photo gallery and links to video coverage on youtube. Results and standings are in chess-results.com.
Official tournament website http://asianchesscont-shj2014.com/
World Chess Federation Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos makes the ceremonial moves starting the round in the Asian Continental Chess Championship between co-leader Rustam Kasimjanov of Uzbekistan (right) and Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan. Looking on are Sharjah Chess Club chairman Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla (center), Director Sultan Al Taher and manager Rajai Al Susi.
Round 6
India’s GM B. Adhiban, Uzbekitan’s Rustam Kasimjanov and China’s Yu Yangyi beat their respective opponents to remain tied for the lead at 5 points each after six rounds of the Asian Continental Chess Championship at the Sharjah Chess Club in Sharjah, UAE. In the women’s division, former Asian women’s champion Irene Sukandar of Indonesia maintained solo lead with 5.5 points after six rounds.
Adhiban used the Bogo-Indian defense against GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh and won his opponent’s Queen on the 44th move to force resignation five moves later.
Kasimjanov played black against the English Opening of GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan and embarked on a king hunt to expose his opponent’s monarch and threaten mate or loss of material in 40 moves to score the full point.
Yu Yangyi used the Sicilian Defense against GM S. P. Sethuraman of India and made a temporary Knight sacrifice on the 25th move and followed through with a two Bishop attack with Rook on the lower ranks to force resignation on the 34th move.
Half a point behind the lead pack are two Chinese GMs, top seed Bu Xiangzhi and Ni Hua. In an Open Catalan game, Bu transposed to a Rook and Pawn endgame against GM Mohammed Al Sayed of Qatar and was about to promote his pawn when the Qatari resigned on the 43rd move. Ni Hua needed only 30 moves to crush the Gruenfeld defense of GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran.
Local hero GM Saleh A. R. Salem and eight other players trail behind at 4 points each, namely Rahman, Ghaem, Maghami, Jumabayev, Sethuraman, GM Krishnan Sasikiran and Negi Parimarjan of India and Chinese GMs Wen Yang and Wei Yi. The top five qualify to the World Cup.
The champion of the Women’s division qualifies to the Women’s world cup. In the sixth round, Sukandar used the Queen’s Indian defense against Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran and penetrated her back rank. In the endgame, Sukandar had a centralized King poised to harvest pawns when Sarasadat resigned on the 60th move.
Three players follow a point behind at 4.5 points each, namely WGMs Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran, Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam and Gong Qianyun of Singapore. Sarasadat trails alone with 4 points.
The tournament is open free to spectators at the Sharjah Chess Club. Games are broadcast live over the official site http://asianchesscont-shj2014.com/ with games download, photo gallery and links to video coverage on youtube. Results and standings are in chess-results.com.
Round 4 - Three Men, Two Women Remain Tied for Lead in Asian Continental Chess
Grandmasters B. Adhiban of India, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and Yu Yangi of China remained tied for the lead in the Open division while WGM Irene Sukandar of Indonesia and WIM Ni Shiqun of China tie for the lead in the Women’s division after four rounds of the Asian Continental Chess Championships at the Sharjah Chess Club in Sharjah, UAE.
Adhiban used the King’s Indian Defense to hold former Asian champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan to a draw in 25 moves. Ghaem Maghami essayed the Nimzo Indian defense to draw with co-leader Yu Yangyi in 42 moves and tie Adhiban at 3.5 points each.
Kasimdzhanov follows with 3 points together with 12 other players, namely local hero GM Salem A. R. Saleh of the UAE, Chu Wei Chao, Wen Yang, Bu Xiangzhi and Wei Yi of China, G. N. Gopal, Vishnu Prasanna and S.P. Sethuraman of India, Mohammed Al Sayed of Qatar, Ziaur Rahman of Bangladezh, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam. The top five qualify to the World Cup.
In the women’s division, two former Asian women’s champion faced off and Irene Sukandar of Indonesia beat Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran in 61 moves of a Giuoco Piano game. WIM Ni Shiqun of China crushed the Sicilian defense of 13-year-old Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan in 43 moves.
Ni Shiqun and Sukandar are tied at 3.5 points each. Four players follow at 3 points each, namely WGMs Nguyen Thi Thanh An and Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran and Gong Qianyun of Singapore. Seven players trail with 2.5 points apiece in the race for the title and the qualification to the next phase of the Women’s World Championship.
Both Open and Women’s tournaments are 9-round Swiss System tournaments. A total of $65,000 in cash prizes are at stake in the tournaments organized by the UAE Chess Federation and Sharjah Chess Club on behalf of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE (World Chess Federation).
The tournament is open free to spectators at the Sharjah Chess Club. Games are broadcast live over the official site http://asianchesscont-shj2014.com/ with games download, photo gallery and links to video coverage on youtube. Results and standings are in chess-results.com.
Co leaders Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran (right) drew with Yu Yangyi of China.
Two former Asian Women’s champions Irene Sukandar of Indonesia (right) beat Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran.
Official website
Round 3
Grandmasters B. Adhiban of India, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and Yu Yangyi of China beat their respective 3rd round opponents to share the lead with 3 points each in the Asian Continental Chess Championship Open division at the Sharjah Chess Club in Sharjah, UAE while in the women’s division, former Asian women’s champion Irene Sukandar of Indonesia and six others are tied for the lead at 2.5 points each.
Adhiban crushed the Sicilian Defense of compatriot G.N. Gopal in a marathon 93 moves and six hours of play. Adhiban had three pieces against Queen and forced Gopal to exchange the Queen for two pieces to prevent mate.
Ghaem Maghami needed only 37 moves to outwit the Sicilian Defense of Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran. The Iranian champion was able to advance his queenside pawns to threaten promotion.
Yu Yangyi beat local hero Salem A. R. Saleh in 40 moves of another Sicilian Defense. The Chinese master penetrated Salem’s second rank with Rook and Queen and captured two pawns to transition to a won endgame.
Four players follow a half point behind the leaders at 2.5 points each, namely GMs Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan and Chinese GMs Bu Xiangzhi and Wen Yang.
Twenty three players trail at 2 points each in the race for five places to advance to the World Cup. Sixty four players from 21 countries are competing in the Open division including 32 Grandmasters, 11 International Masters and 6 FIDE Masters.
In the Women’s division, tied for the lead at 2.5 points each are Irene Sukandar of Indonesia and six others, namely 13-year-old Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan, Nguyen Thi Thanh An of Vietnam, Ni Shiqun of China, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh and Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran and Gong Qianyun of Singapore.
Sukandar beat WGM Mary Ann Gomes of India, Nguyen Thi beat IM Tania Sachdev of India, Ni Shiqun beat WFM Hulkar Tohirjonova, Gong beat Hoang Thi Nhu of Vietnam while Abdumalik and Khademalsharieh drew with each other. Thirty two women are vying for the title and the chance to advance to the Women’s World Championship.
A $5,000 Blitz Championship (5-minutes per player) was held yesterday and Yu Yangyi of China emerged champion with 7.5 points out of 9 rounds. GMs Pentala Harikrishna of India and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran shared second and third places in the Open at 7 points each. In the women’s division, Tan Zhongyi of China won the title undefeated with 8 points followed by GM Harika Dronavalli of India and 13-year-old WIM Abdumalik Zhansaya of Kazakhstan in second and third with 6.5 points each.
All games are broadcast live on the official site with photo gallery, daily interviews and video links. Visit chess-results.com for standings and results. The tournament is open free to the public from 3pm daily at the Sharjah Chess Club, the biggest chess club in the world.
In foreground, from left are 3rd place GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, 2nd placer GM Pentala harikrishna of India and Open champion Yu Yangyi of Chinea, women’s champion Tan Zhongyi of China, 2nd placer GM Harika Dronavali and 3rd placer WIM Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan.
In background, from left are International Arbiter Elias Khairallah of Lebanon, Organizing Committee Media and Public Relations manager Hassan Malallah, Asian Chess Federation Secretary General Hisham Al Taher, Sharjah Chess Club chairman Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla, UAE Chess Federation General Secretary Jamal Modfa and Sharjah Chess Club manager Rajai Al Susi.
Official website
Round 2
GM Salem A. R. Saleh of the UAE and six others remained tied for the lead with two points each after as many rounds of the Asian Continental Chess Championship at the Sharjah Chess Club in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Indian GMs B. Adhiban and G.N. Gopal, two Chinese GMs, Wen Yang and Yu Yangyi, Iran’s GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh are tied with Saleh at two points each.
Saleh crushed the Sicilian Defense of GM Abhijit Kunte of India by preventing his opponent from castling. Saleh sacrificed a Bishop on the 30th move and Kunte had to give up his Queen to prevent checkmate but resigned on the 36th move.
Adhiban used the Gruenfeld Defense to turn back GM Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa of Mongolia in 60 moves. Gopal pried open the castled King of untitled Assad Mamyrbay of Kazakhstan and penetrated with his Rook and Queen to force resignation on the 31st move.
Yu Yangyi needed only 26 moves of his Fiancheto Gruenfeld Defense to beat GM Suri Vaibhav of India while Chinese GM Wen Yang beat his compatriot Wan Yunguo in 50 moves of a Scotch Game.
Rahman used the Trompovsky Attack to upset GM Abhijeet Gupta of India in 46 moves. Ghaem Maghami used the Nimzo-Indian defense to launch a sacrificial attack and force GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam to resign in only 24 moves.
Fifteen players are bunched together a half point behind the lead pack with 1.5 points apiece. The top five shall qualify to the World Cup next year.
In the women’s division, young Abdumalik Zhansaya of Kazakhstan and WGM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran are tied for the lead at 2 points each. Former Asian Women’s champion Irine Sukandar of Indonesia and 11 other players follow at 1.5 points each, namely Tania Sachdev, Gomes Mary Ann and Swathi Ghate of India, Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Thanh An, Hoang Thi Nhu and Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Ni Shiqun of China, Tohirjonova Hulkar of Uzbekistan, Pourkashiyan Atousa of Iran, Gong Qianyun of Singapore and Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia. The winner of the 32-player tournament will advance to the Women’s World Cup.
Adhiban of India
Salem A. R. Saleh of UAE
Abdumalik Zhansaya of KAZ
Official website
Round 1
Highly rated GM Krishnan Sasikiran and nine other Indian grandmasters form the biggest group of leaders after the first round of the $65,000 Asian Continental Chess Championships at the plush Sharjah Chess Club in Sharjah, UAE.
Sixty four representatives from 21 countries are competing in the Open division including 32 Grandmasters, 11 International Masters and 6 FIDE Masters.
Also winning their first round assignments were Indian GMs Ganguly Surya Shekhar, Gupta Abhijeet, Adhiban B., Sethuraman S.P., Gopal G.N., Sengupta Deep, Vaibhav Suri, Debashis Das and Kunte Abhijit.
Together with the 10-man group of Indian GMs setting the pace are four Chinese, three Vietnamese players and two each from Iran, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Local hero GM Salem A.R. Saleh of Sharjah is among the early leaders.
Top seed is China’s Bu Xiangzhi, rated 2699, followed by former Asian Games champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan at 2693. Sasikiran, rated 2680, is third seed.
The tournament is a 9-round Swiss. The top five players qualify to the World Cup which is the next stage of the world championship cycle. The women’s champion advances to the Women’s World Championship.
A separate women’s division is being played with 32 players from 16 countries. International Master Tania Sachdev and two other Indian women are setting the pace with wins in the first round together with 3 Vietnamese, 2 Iranians and one player each from China, Singapore and Kazakhstan and 2012 Asian woman champion Irene Sukandar of Indonesia.
Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qassimi, Chairman of Media Center in Sharjah, starts the clock on first board between top seed GMs Bu Xiangzhi (right) and Gao Rui, both of China. Looking on are, from left, UAE Chess Federation Finance Manager Husain Al Shamsi, former chairman of Arab & UAE Chess Federations Ali Al Dabani, Sharjah Chess Club General Secretary Omran Abdulla, UAE Youth and Sports Authority Vice General Secretary Khalid Al Midfaa, Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qassimi, Sharjah Chess Club chairman Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla and Asian Chess Federation General Secretary Hisham Ali Taher.
Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qassimi, Chairman of Media Center in Sharjah, starts the clock on first board between Nguyen Thi Thanh An of Vietnam (left) and top seed Tan Zhongyi of China. Looking on are, from left, Sharjah Chess Club manager Rajai Al Susi, IA Hiba Abdul Karim, IA Salwa Hadi, UAE Youth and Sports Authority Vice General Secretary Khalid Al Midfaa, Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qassimi, Sharjah Chess Club chairman Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla and Asian Chess Federation General Secretary Hisham Ali Taher, Sharjah Chess Club General Secretary Omran Abdulla and sponsor Obaid Al Tonaigi.
Official website
Opening Ceremony
13th Asian Continental Chess Championship (Open and Women’s) has started in the Islamic Capital of the World for 2014, Sharjah. About 100 chess players from Asian and Arab national federations came to compete for the highest continental title. Among the participants are former World Chess Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan, participant of the FIDE Grand Prix Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia, former Asian Continental Youth Champion Negi Parimarjan of India and many participants of the World Cups and other players. Bu Xiangzhi of China (2699) is the rating favorite of the tournament in the Open Section, whereas Tan Zhungyi of China )2488) is the top seeded in the women’s section.
The Opening Ceremony took place in the biggest Chess club in the world – Sharjah Chess and Cultural Club. Among the distinguished guests His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, His Highness Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Moalla, General Secretary of the Asian Chess Federation Hisham Ali Al TTaher were present.
The Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee Sultan Al Taher opened the Ceremony. On behalf of the Organizing Committee he expressed his gratitude to the leadership of Sharjah as well as of the UAE to make the tournament a success. He wished all the participants luck and success. The General Secretary of the Asian Chess Federation spoke on behalf of His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahayan. He expressed his confidence that all participants will not only show good results at the championship but also will enjoy warmth of the hospitality and weather in a nice city of Sharjah.
After the Opening Ceremony and first ceremonial move, the 1st round of the Asian Continental Championship started.
Official website
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