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The 2014 Asian Nations Cup is underway in Tabriz, Iran, and will run from May 20-30, 2014. It is a team event with men's and women competitions in blitz, rapid, and standard time controls. The first event is the rapid games competitions followed by the standard time controls, and finally on the last day the blitz event will be held.
After the serious upset when India beat China to take the lead, Indian's victory celebration was short lived. In round seven the jubilant team ran into a brickwall in the form of Iran-A, a team that yielded over 100 Elo less on average. Iran's GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, the world record holder in a simul, held off Indian held off S.P. Sethuraman to a draw, as did Asghar Golizadah (2497) against Krishnan Sasikiran (2669), but Toufighi (2419) fell to Parimarjan Negi (2643), leaving the Indians ahead by a point. This left one game left for the Iranian point man of the tournament thus far, Elshan Moradiabadi, who faced B. Adhiban.
Sethuraman (standing left) and Maghami (standing behind) watch the crucial game between
Adhiban and Moradiabadi (red shirt)
This vital victory not only drew the match for Iran, but equalized the overall match scores between India and China, giving the Chinese the lead once more by virtue of tiebreak (having won more games). As to Elshan, he retook the lead as the heaviest scorer of the event, with 6.5/8.
The arbiters in charge of a smooth operation
Round eight saw few surprises as strong teams were paired against much weaker ones, and the only surprises were the occasional individual one-offs that saved team face from a whitewash, but nothing to endanger the actual matches.
Round nine will see an interesting match between Iran-A and China, as well as Kazakhstan against Vietnam. The other matches should see fairly lopsided scores.
The winner's trophy
|
Rk
|
SNo
|
Team |
Gms
|
+
|
=
|
-
|
TB
|
|
1
|
4
|
CHINA |
8
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
27.5
|
|
2
|
2
|
INDIA |
8
|
6
|
2
|
0
|
23.0
|
|
3
|
1
|
VIETNAM |
8
|
5
|
2
|
1
|
24.5
|
|
4
|
9
|
KAZAKHSTAN |
8
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
22.0
|
|
5
|
6
|
IRAN A |
8
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
22.5
|
|
6
|
5
|
IRAN B |
8
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
15.0
|
|
7
|
8
|
SRI LANKA |
8
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
9.5
|
|
8
|
7
|
JORDAN |
8
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
6.5
|
|
9
|
10
|
IRAQ |
8
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
9.0
|
|
10
|
3
|
OMAN |
8
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
0.5
|
By virtue of a funny coincidence, the fifth and last round of the women's event saw a similar upset as the Indian team was also unable to overcome the top Iranians. Top Indian player Harika Dronavalli did not play, possibly because the Chinese could no longer be denied the gold, and thus IM Tania Sachdev took the first board. Though she won her game against Iran's Atousa Pourkashiyan, WIM Mitra Hejazipour defeated her higher rated Indian opponent IM Eesha Karavade, which was enough to save the match as the rest drew. China, in the meantime, crushed Kazakhstan 4-0 completing the unblemished record.
Iran-A (left) scored a vital draw agianst India (right) and thus secured third place and Bronze
China (left) completed their devastation of the field by beating Kazakhstan 4-0
China therefore took the gold, India silver, and by virtue of their great final result, Iran-A took bronze.
|
Rk
|
SNo
|
Team
|
Gms
|
+
|
=
|
-
|
TB
|
|
1
|
2
|
CHINA |
5
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
|
2
|
3
|
INDIA |
5
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
|
3
|
6
|
IRAN A |
5
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
|
4
|
4
|
KAZAKHSTAN |
5
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
|
5
|
5
|
VIETNAM |
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
|
6
|
1
|
IRAN B |
5
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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