Sethuruman and Kulkarni win Asian Continental

Photos by Evgeny Smolnikov

Most of the great cities of the world are characterised by the inherent social and demographic conflicts that are ingrained in them. It is often starkly visible in the form of the old relics and customs and the modern ways that succeeded them, without really killing their predecessors. Tashkent qualifies — a part of it is a new-age metropolis, the most happening place in Uzbekistan, a part of it a leafy Soviet-era city, and also, a part of it is a home away from home represented by sprawling greenery. 

The Uzbekistan Chess Federation on behalf of Asian Chess Federation and FIDE is hosting the Asian Continental Chess Championships (Open and Women’s) from 25 May — 5 June 2016 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The tournament is a nine-round-swiss with the time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

The tournament was dominated up to the end by two players essentially. The first was the
top seed Le Quang Liem (2718) who was undefeated after eight rounds with 6.5/8. In
round six, he beat Indian GM Sethuruman (2647) with black, and in round eight it was the
fifth seed GM Adhiban.

Keeping pace was Chinese prodigy Wei Yi, also with 6.5/8, defeating third seed, and local
hero Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2703)

The only player with 6.0/8 was Sethuruman himself, who had lost to Le Qaung Liem earlier, and
now faced Wei Yi with black

Wei Yi - S.P. Sethuruman (notes by IM Sagar Shah)

A fantastic win that guaranteed a spot on the podium, but another game also held his fate in its hands: the matchup on board two.

Le Quang Liem had white against Indian GM Ganguly in the last round. A draw would ensure him of gold.

Le Quang Liem - Surya Ganguly

A very unexpected result, not so much because Ganguly isn't capable of it, since obviously he is, but because both leaders, who had played superbly until the final round, lost with white. As a result, S.P. Sethuruman took sole first with 7.0/9, while Le Quang Liem and Wei Yi took silver and bronze respectively.

It should be noted that because the Asian Continental Championship also qualifies the top five, if not already qualified, to the next World Cup, fourth place finisher Murtas Kazhgaleyev from Kazakhstan, and Deep Sengupta from India, who finished fifth, can look forward to that as well.

Local hero Rustam Kasimdzhanov was not at his best in the second half when he skidded
with three draws and then a loss to Wei Yi in round eight

Murtas Kazhgaleyev from Kazakhstan managed to qualify thanks to his final win over...

... sixth seed GM Vidit from India.

GM Abhijeet Gupta (2654) never really got going and finished with 5.0/9

Ni Hua (2682) also had a difficult event and ended with 5.0/9

In spite of a great many 'wunderkinds' (wonder kids), such as 10-year-old Javokhir Sindarov (2384)
above, there were no remarkable results as their more experienced (and often much higher rated)
peers held them at bay.

The event went smoothly thanks to the efforts of the arbiters and organizers

The top three finishers

Final standings

TB: direct encounter; TB2: average rating of opponents

Click for complete standings

In the Women's event, Uzbek WFM Bakhora Abdusattorova, 16 years old, heavily outperformed
her 2091 rating with an excellent 2273 performance, including a win over IM Batchimeg (2412)

Rebecca Stones was likely the player who traveled the furthest to participate, as she flew
over ten thousand kilometers from Australia to Uzbekistan

WGM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung came in fourth with 6.0/9

Indian WGM Soumya Swamithan came in third with 6.5/9 and a 2437 performance

After stumbling in round two with a loss, second seed WGM Dinara Saduakassova (2415)
stormed back with 4/5 in the final rounds and came in second with 6.5/9

Nevertheless the event was clearly that of WGM Bhakti Kulkarni (2296) who's flawless event
included a 4.5/5 start, with a big win over top seed IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (2459)

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh - Bhakti Kulkarni (notes by IM Sagar Shah)

A great win, but after draws in rounds six and seven her advantage had dwindled to half a point with four players close behind with 5.0/7. In round eight she faced the surprising Chinese player Li Xueyi, who was scoring scalps left and right, and a serious candidate for the podium.

Li Xueyi - Bhakti Kulkarni (notes by IM Sagar Shah)

This vital win kept her in the sole lead and no one was able to change that by the end. She finished sole first with 7.0/9 and a superb 2506 performance plus a spot in the next Women World Championship.

The three top finishers

The winners of both events, WGM Bhakti Kulkarni and GM S.P. Sethuruman

Final standings

TB: direct encounter; TB2: average rating of opponents

Click for complete standings

Links Official tournament site All Open games in PGN All Women's games in PGN The 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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.