Hejazipour new Asian Women’s Champion

Mitra Hejazipour is the new Asian Women’s Champion

The Asian Continental Championships 2015 were held from the 2nd to the 10th of August 2015 in Al Ain, UAE. Five qualifications spots from the open section for World Cup 2015, and one for the women for World Cup 2016 were at stake, along with a total of US $75,000 ($50,000 for open and $25,000 for women) in prize money.

As we saw in part one of the report, Salem Saleh won the Asian Open title. The women’s championship was exciting and keenly contested until the very last round. 57 participants with an average rating of 2142 included nine IMs and 14 WGMs.

Two full-fledged female GMs were present in Al Ain: Koneru Humpy and…

… Dronavalli Harika. But they both were playing in the open section!

Tan Zhongyi (2512) was the top seed of the event

With a rating of 2444 IM Padmini Rout was the second seed

The tournament witnessed quite a bit of fighting chess, and by round six there were two players in the lead with 5.0/6 – WGM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman from India and WIM Mitra Hejazipour from Iran. In an intense top board seventh round battle between the two leaders it was the Indian player who emerged victorious. Viji (as she is fondly called) emerged as the sole leader and kept that half point advantage with a draw in the eighth round. Going into the last round the following were the important pairings on the top boards.

Vijayalakshmi lost her games against Shen Yang. The game between Saduakassova and Bodda ended in a draw and Mitra Hejazipour was able to get better of Mary Ann Gomes. This meant that Shen Yang and Mitra were the only two players on seven points. As they both had not played each other the tie could not be broken by means of the direct-encounter criteria. The next tie-break would favour the player with most wins. Shen Yang had played a pretty solid event with five wins and four draws. But it was Mitra’s enterprising approach that helped her score seven wins (two losses as well!) and emerge as the Asian Women’s Champion.

The two Asian Champions – Mitra Hejazipour from Iran and Salem Saleh from UAE

Starting as the 19th seed, WIM Mitra Hejazipour had just graduated in physical education and sports science a few days before the event. She hadn’t played much in the three months prior to the tournament and didn’t have a coach to work with. Her only assistance was GM Idani Pouya who helped her with the openings. Mitra came with to the Asian Championships with modest expectation. After nine days of grueling chess she went back as the Asian Champion, was given the WGM title and made her maiden IM norm. She also gained 35 Elo points. No wonder she says, “I just got to the good part of my chess life!”

After the tournament ended, we asked Mitra for a small interview. She obliged. Here are the excerpts:

Sagar Shah: Hi Mitra, congratulations on becoming the Asian Women’s Champion 2015. How was the overall experience at the tournament? Nine decisive results (seven wins and two losses) – you were in a fighting mood?!

Mitra Hejazipour: It was my second time competing at the Asian Championships. The first one wasn't so good but I am satisfied with my games this time. I performed well and it paid off! Every round, I tried to play well, not to make any mistakes and most importantly enjoy the game.

SS: You started out as the 19th seed. What were the expectations that you had from yourself before the tournament?

MH: Before the tournament I didn't expect to make it to the podium at all. My goals were being in the top six, increasing my rating and getting a WGM norm. I was a bit worried because I didn't have a coach and hadn't played for three months, just zonal championships which wasn't really strong.

Lack of coach and practice can be offset by strong determination and concentration

In the first round itself you found yourself in trouble.

Hejazipour,M (2321)-Alattar,G (1913), Round 1

Black to play

Did you notice Ne1+ Rxe1 Rxb2-+ during the game? What was going through your mind?

MH: No I didn't notice it. I was only thinking that she couldn't play directly Rxb2. [ed: Mitra’s opponent Alattar instead of Ne1+ played 29.Rxb2 Qxb2 30.Qxb2 Nxb2 when after 31.Rd2 White was an exchange up and confidently went on to convert the game.]

Actually, my trip to Al-Ain wasn't a piece of cake. Although the city is close to Tehran, I could not sleep all the night before the first round. So I was tired and sleep deprived. I was so upset with the game. Fortunately she was in time trouble and didn't notice Ne1+ either. I don't play so many tournaments so I usually don't have easy first rounds!

After your second round loss to Padmini Rout you picked up pace and scored four wins on a trot. This included wins over two strong players, Eesha Karavade and Medina Aulia, both 2400+. They looked like effortless victories. Can you explain how did you achieve them?

MH: Yes, I started the tournament badly – won the first round with luck and played terrible against Padmini. But the next rounds I felt like I was coming back and I was playing better, I gained my confidence back after playing a good game against Karavade.

Mitra’s game against Eesha Karavade was her favourite one from the event
and she has specially sent her annotations for the readers to enjoy.

In the seventh round, you had a completely winning position against Vijayalakshmi. How did you feel after losing that game and how did you keep your mental balance?

MH: I was so disappointed after the game – it was unbelievable. I knew she had some mating threats, but I did nothing about it and just waited till she did it. I know there's no explanation for some of the games, and it happens to everyone. But still it was so disappointing. All I could do was to talk to my parents for a while and then go out shopping with my friends. Shopping usually makes me feel better!

I have had a lot of similar situations in the past. So I just tried to forget about that game. I still had chances for winning a medal and I didn't want to miss it just because of this one game.

You faced your country mate Atousa in the eighth round. In 2013 and 2014 she was the Iranian champion and you had to be content with the runner-up spot. On both occasions she emerged victorious against you. It must have been especially sweet to win against her in this crucial encounter.

MH: I have had good results against Atousa in the past, but somehow I lost the last two games in a row to her. I didn't want to lose another one and so I reviewed our games again and tried to avoid the mistakes I made in our previous encounters. I prepared well and yes, it was really a sweet victory!

Enemies on the board but friends off it: Mitra (left) with Atousa

Going into the last round, you were half point behind the leader Vijayalakshmi and faced Mary Ann Gomes. Mary usually opens her games with 1.Nf3. Were you surprised with 1.e4?

MH: I was prepared for all the lines except 1.e4 and I remembered it right before the game! I expected the Bg5 line because I played it badly against Padmini and I thought there's a chance that she repeats the same thing. But I still went for the Najdorf. I played badly in the opening because I didn't know it very well. Obviously I was really worried about the position I got after the opening but I was trying to save the game or at least make a draw. But later in the game I saw that she didn't really know how to use her advantage and her time was passing, she couldn't decide how to play and I got the feeling that I can win the game.

The last round victory would have given Mary Ann Gomes the Asian Championship title,
as her third tie-break was better than Shen Yang’s. But instead she lost and finished ninth
in the tournament! Those are the stakes when you play such a crucial last round.

How does it feel to be the Asian Champion and winner of such a prestigious event?

MH: I'm really happy, probably the happiest I've ever been. I think I just got to the good part of my chess life!

What’s next on your agenda now?

MH: If I get my visa I'll play in Abu Dhabi Open and then the Baku open. Just these two for now.
I would like to thank my parents and my sister for supporting me, my friends helping me in the tournament and the Al-Ain Chess Club for their good organization.

IM Shen Yang of China had a slow start to her campaign with a score of 2.5/4 (three draws in rounds two, three and four). She then picked up pace and scored 4.5 in the last five rounds, with good wins against Li Ruofan, Aulia Medina and Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman. At 7.0/9 she had the same score as the winner but thanks to the tie-break she had to settle for the silver.

S. Vijayalakshmi was the first Woman Grandmaster of India. In many ways she was a torch-bearer for the development of women chess in the country. At one point in her career she was very close to achieving the GM title with three GM norms to her credit and also a rating of 2485. But of late she had been out of form and her rating had dipped to 2341. In this tournament she showed great tenacity and was leading right until the end. A last round loss to Shen Yang and she had to be content with the bronze medal. Yet her performance was good enough for her to gain 19 Elo points. Slowly and steadily she is clawing her way back towards her unfulfilled dream of becoming a grandmaster.

18-year-old Pratyusha Bodda (2194) played the tournament of her life, gaining 132 Elo. She scored wins against four higher rated players: Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Nakhbayeva Guliskhan, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Soumya Swaminathan.

19-year-old Dinara Saduakassova remained unbeaten with
five draws and four wins, scoring 6.5/9 and finishing fifth.

Medina Aulia of Indonesia had a great start to the tournament with 4.5/5 including a win over the second seed Padmini Rout. But back-to-back losses in round six and seven against Mitra and Shen Yang badly affected her tournament. In spite of these two losses she came back strongly in the eighth round, scoring a win against Zhai Mo (2401). Speaks volumes about her fighting qualities. She finished sixth.

Lie Tingjje (left) who finished seventh along with her friend

Eighth: Tania Sachdev from India. Though Tania didn’t have a great event,
a last round victory against Tan Zhongyi must have been consolation for her.

WGM Soumya Swaminathan from India finished thirteenth

Top final rankings (after nine rounds)

• Full rankings of all 57 players

Tan Zhongyi won the Rapid Championship. Tania Sachdev finished second and D. Harika third

Asian women blitz: Zhu Chen with the gold, Zhai Mo silver and Wang Jue bronze

One of Kazakhstan’s top players, Guliskhan Nakhbayeva,
had a bad event, scoring 4.0/9 and losing 35 Elo points

Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii from Mongolia had an equally bad event,
as she scored 3.5/9 and lost 35 Elo points

Aizhan Alymbay was the only player from Kryrgyzstan and she scored 3.5/9

At a women’s event you can expect some colorful apparel ...

... with red always being the colour that catches the eye

For the first time in the history of Asian Continental Chess Championships the tournament had an all-female arbiter team. It consisted of (from left to right) WGM Zhang Jilin from China, Huda Alnajjar from Kuwait, International Arbiter Bhuvana Sai from India, International Arbiter and Deputy Chief Arbiter of the Asian Continental Chess Championships Maryam Mohammed from the UAE, and Hend Mohamad Lotfi from the UAE.

The Chinese delegation at the Asian Continental 2015

Photographs from the official Facebook page

Official tournament site – selection of games