Asian Junior 2017: Iran sweeps Open, and India the Girls
5/22/2017 – When it comes to Iran, normally Shiraz comes to our mind. Shiraz is one of the oldest cities of ancient Persia and most likely more than 4,000 years old. In order to help foreigners familiarize themselves with this beautiful cultural city, the Iranian Chess Federation decided to organize the Asian Junior Chess Championship in Shiraz. Here is the illustrated report.
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by IA Shohreh Bayat and Sahar Noori
This event took place from May 1-11, 2017 with the participation of 75 Players from eight countries namely: India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Syria, Tajikistan and Vietnam that competed in the Open and Girls sections.
Eram Garden located in Shiraz
Iranian girls in traditional dress
Standard Open section medalists
The tournament was held in Standard, Rapid and Blitz formats. IM Masoud Mosadeghpour, who is also the former world U18 champion and was the winner of the 2015 Asian Junior, finished strongly in the standard Open section with 8.0/9. IM Alireza Firouzja, the no. 2 player in the current FIDE rating list, was the runner-up and Arash Tahbaz, the Asian U18 champion, came in third place. Interestingly, all the medalists of this section were from Iran whereas in the standard girls section the Indian players enjoyed a clean sweep of the medals.
Mosadeghpour Masoud vs Taalaibekov Tagir
Alireza Firouzja vs Aryan Gholami
WIM Ivana Maria Furtado from India, who won the bronze medal in the previous Asian Girls Championship, was the undefeated tournament champion this time. Second and third places belonged to, respectively, Meghna C H and WFM Bidhar Rutumbara from India.
During the event, the organizer provided an excursion program to the ancient places of Shiraz such as the Tomb of Iranian Poet Hafez, Karim Khan Castle and Pars Museum. (click image for high-res)
In the open section of the Rapid championship, IM Tran Tuan Minh from Vietnam won the gold medal, while IM Mosadeghpour Masoud and IM Khodashenas Mersad from Iran respectively won silver and bronze. IM Tran Tuan Minh was also gold in the blitz.
WCM Isha Sharma from India was champion of the Girls Rapid section
WFM Mobina Alinasab from Iran was champion of the Blitz Girls event
Mutriba Hotami from Tajikestan, second runner-up in the Blitz Girls championship
Photos by Borna news agency
Final standings Open under-20
| Rk | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts | |
| 1 | 3 | IM | Mosadeghpour Masoud | IRI | 2444 | 8,0 |
| 2 | 2 | IM | Firouzja Alireza | IRI | 2487 | 7,0 |
| 3 | 9 | Tahbaz Arash | IRI | 2409 | 7,0 | |
| 4 | 5 | IM | Gholami Aryan | IRI | 2423 | 6,5 |
| 5 | 16 | Daghli Arash | IRI | 2198 | 6,5 | |
| 6 | 1 | IM | Tran Tuan Minh | VIE | 2537 | 6,5 |
| 7 | 7 | IM | Khodashenas Mersad | IRI | 2410 | 6,5 |
| 8 | 4 | IM | Mousavi Seyed Khalil | IRI | 2435 | 5,5 |
| 9 | 28 | Baneshi Mahan | IRI | 1971 | 5,5 |
Final standings Girls under-20
| Rk | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts | |
| 1 | 2 | WIM | Ivana Maria Furtado | IND | 2132 | 7,0 |
| 2 | 8 | Meghna C H | IND | 1915 | 6,5 | |
| 3 | 6 | WFM | Bidhar Rutumbara | IND | 1964 | 6,0 |
| 4 | 7 | Alijanzadeh Mohadeseh | IRI | 1942 | 6,0 | |
| 5 | 4 | Harshita Guddanti | IND | 2007 | 6,0 | |
| 6 | 10 | Mahdian Anousha | IRI | 1871 | 5,5 | |
| 7 | 11 | Hashemi Seyede Fatemeh | IRI | 1837 | 5,5 | |
| 8 | 1 | WFM | Alinasab Mobina | IRI | 2226 | 5,5 |
| 9 | 13 | Hotami Mutriba | TJK | 1781 | 5,0 | |
| 10 | 15 | Priyamvada Karamcheti | IND | 1728 | 5,0 |
- All games in PGN (most analyzed)
