Indians dominate Asian Continental Championships

by André Schulz
11/5/2022 – Praggnanandhaa and Nandhidhaa P V won the open and women’s sections of the 2022 Asian Championships, respectively. Praggnanandhaa took the sole lead in round 8, and a draw in his final game was enough for the 17-year-old to win the open. Nandhidhaa, aged 26, claimed tournament victory with one round to spare. | Photos: All India Chess Federation and Shahid Ahmed

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Pragg comes from behind

The All Indian Chess Federation hosted the Asian Championships, which were held in New Delhi from 26 October to 3 November. Two-thirds of the participants and competitors in the championships hailed from India, including a number of strong grandmasters. The very best Indian players, however, were absent. 

Top seed was prodigious grandmaster Praggnanandhaa, just ahead of his compatriot Narayanan and the Uzbek gold medallist Nodirbek Yakubboev.

A chess superstar — Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

With three wins and three draws in the first six rounds, Praggnanandhaa did not get off to a bad start, but a player did better than him. The leader with five points after six rounds was India’s Harsha Bharathakoti. Tournament favourite Praggnanandhaa was part of an eleven-player chasing group a half point behind.

Praggnanandhaa defeated Murali Karthikeyan in round 7 and followed it up with another victory in round 8. After his win over Koustav Chatterjee, the 17-year-old took the sole lead.

In the final round, a draw against Adhiban was enough for Praggnanandhaa to win the Continental Championship as the only player with 7 points. Six players finished with 6½ points, of whom Harsha Bharathakoti had the best second score.

Women’s Championship

The women's title went to Nandhidhaa P V, who won the tournament with 7½ points, a full-point ahead of her closest chasers. Nandhidhaa was the 2016 runner-up in the U20 women’s category and was got the WGM title in 2019.

Nandhidhaa P V

The 26-year-old belonged to the top group from round 3 and took the sole lead in round 7, which she was able to keep until the end. Her tournament victory was already certain one round before the end.

The Elo favourite in the Women’s Championship was Tania Sachdev. The well-known commentator, however, conceded defeat to eventual runner-up Priyanka Nutakki in round 5 and drew all her games thereafter. Sachdev finished 18th in the final standings.


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Final standings - Open

Rg. Name Pkt.  Wtg1 
1 Praggnanandhaa R 7 2530
2 Harsha Bharathakoti 6,5 2521
3 Adhiban B. 6,5 2511
4 Narayanan.S.L 6,5 2507
5 Vokhidov Shamsiddin 6,5 2507
6 Sethuraman S.P. 6,5 2487
7 Karthik Venkataraman 6,5 2430
8 Pranesh M 6 2527
9 Viani Antonio Dcunha 6 2513
10 Pranav Anand 6 2477
11 Shyam Sundar M. 6 2468
12 Puranik Abhimanyu 6 2454
13 Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 6 2446
14 Vignesh N R 6 2387
15 Koustav Chatterjee 5,5 2561
16 Ayush Sharma 5,5 2528
17 Karthikeyan Murali 5,5 2524
18 Raja Rithvik R 5,5 2522
19 Urazayev Arystanbek 5,5 2469
20 Jumabayev Rinat 5,5 2442
21 Samant Aditya S 5,5 2435
22 Pranav V 5,5 2430
23 Sankalp Gupta 5,5 2402
24 Sengupta Deep 5,5 2400
25 Yakubboev Nodirbek 5,5 2390

...92 players

All available games

 
 

Final standings - Women’s

Rg. Name Pkt.  Wtg1 
1 Nandhidhaa P V 7,5 2282
2 Priyanka Nutakki 6,5 2306
3 Divya Deshmukh 6,5 2259
4 Vo Thi Kim Phung 6,5 2250
5 Kurmangaliyeva Liya 6 2327
6 Nguyen Thi Mai Hung 6 2273
7 Padmini Rout 6 2267
8 Aakanksha Hagawane 5,5 2295
9 Mohota Nisha 5,5 2273
10 Vantika Agrawal 5,5 2257
11 Gomes Mary Ann 5,5 2230
12 Kairbekova Amina 5,5 2180
13 Karavade Eesha 5,5 2177
14 Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel 5,5 2134
15 Kiran Manisha Mohanty 5 2300
16 Rakshitta Ravi 5 2280
17 Soumya Swaminathan 5 2264
18 Tania Sachdev 5 2236
19 Balabayeva Xeniya 5 2209
20 Arpita Mukherjee 5 2092

...50 players

All available games

 
 

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.