Praggnanandhaa and Nandhidhaa becomes Asian Champions

Praggnanandhaa.

Khel Today Bureau

New Delhi:  Top seed Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa R and Women Grandmaster Nandhidhaa P V became the Asian Champions in the Open and Women’s sections respectively in the Asian Continental Chess Championship which concluded here at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Thursday.

Nandhidhaa P V receiving trophy.

Praggnanandhaa started the final round with a lead of half point over nearest contenders and drew his ninth-round encounter with compatriot B Adhiban in 63 moves to emerge as clear champion with seven points.

All medal winners.

A six-way tie for the runner up position with six and half points was resolved by tie break score and Harsha Bharathakoti finished ahead of the rest while B Adhian completed the Indian domination with a third-place finish. Narayanan S L, Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan, Sethuraman S P and Karthik Venkataraman satisfied with fourth to seventh finish.

Chess Champions

In the women’s category, Nandhidhaa drew her final round game against Divya Deshmukh to take her point tally to seven and half points to win the yellow metal.

Priyanka Nutakki, Divya Deshmukh and Thi Kim Phung Vo of Vietnam finished equal on six and half points but better tie break score helped Priyanka to finish as runner up. Divya finished third and Vo placed fourth.

Meanwhile Grandmaster Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan and Divya Deshmukh became the Asian Blitz champions in the open and women categories respectively.

In a befitting closing ceremony, Deputy President of Asian Chess Federation Mr. Bharat Singh Chauhan and General Secretary Mr. Hisham Al-Taher gave away the trophies and cash prizes to the winners.

Top Ten (Open): 1. GM Praggnanandhaa R 2. GM Harsha Bharathakoti 3. GM Adhiban B  4. GM Narayanan S L 5. GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan 6. GM Sethuraman S P 7. Karthik Venkataraman 8. IM Pranesh M 9. IM Viani Antonio Dcunha 10. Pranav Anand.

Women : 1. WGM Nandhidhaa P V 2. WGM Priyanka Nutakki 3. WGM Divya Deshmukh 4. WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam 5. FM Kurmangaliyeva Liya of Kazakhstan 6. Nguyen Thi Mai Hung of Vietnam 7. IM Padmini Rout 8. WIM Aakanksha Hagawane  9. IM Nisha Mohota 10. WGM Vantika Agrawal.

Results Round-9 (Open) Indians otherwise stated :- GM Adhiban B (6.5) drew with GM Praggnanandhaa R (7); GM Narayanan S L (6.5) drew with GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (6.5); GM Harsha Bharathakoti (6.5) drew with GM Karthik Venkataraman (6.5); GM Sethuraman S P (6.5) beat IM Koustav Chatterjee (5.5); IM Pranesh M (6) drew with GM Shyam Sundar M (6); GM Aravindh Chithambaram (6) beat GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (5); GM Raja Rithvik R (5.5) drew with GM Karthikeyan Murali (5.5); GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (5.5) drew with IM Samant Aditya S (5.5); GM Bilguun Sumiya of Mongolia (5) lost to GM Abhimanyu Puranik (6); IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (6) beat GM Leon Luke Mendonca (5).

Results Round-9 (Woman) :- WGM Divya Deshkumh (6.5) drew with WGM Nandhidhaa P V (7.5); WGM Priyanka Nutakki (6.5) beat IM Padmini Rout (6); IM Soumya Swaminathan (5) lost to WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (6.5); WIM Rakshitta Ravi (5) lost to FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (6); WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (5) lost to WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (6); IM Tania Sachdev (5) drew with WGM Vantika Agrawal (5.5); IM Nomin Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia (5.5) beat WGM Srija Seshadri (4.5); WFM Munkhzul Davaakhuu of Mongolia (4.5) lost to IM Eesha Karavade (5.5); WGM Mary Ann Gomes (5.5) beat WIM Saina Salonika (4.5); WIM Cholleti Sahajasri (4.5) lost to WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (5.5).

Results Round-8 (Open) :- Koustav Chatterjee lost to Praggnanandhaa R; Shamsiddin Vokhidov drew with Harsha Bharathakoti; Saparmyrat Atabayev lost to Narayanan  S L; Leon Luke Mendonca lost to Adhiban B; Karthik Venkataraman beat Maksat Atabayev; Ayush Sharma lost to Sethuraman S P; Vignesh N R drew with Aravindh Chithamabaram; Karthikeyan Murali drew with Pranav Anand; Abhimanyu Puranik drew with Raja Rithvik; Pranv V lost to Pranesh M.

Results Round-8 (Woman) :- Nandhidhaa P V beat Soumya Swaminathan; Priyanka Nutakki lost to Divya Deshmukh; Padmini Rout beat Mary Ann Gomes; Vantika Agrawal drew with Kiran Manisha Mohanty; Vo Thi Kim Phung beat Cholleti Sahajasri; Thi Mai Hung Nguyen drew with Isha Sharma; Nisha Mohota drew with Tania Sachdev; Aakanksha Hagawane drew with Nomin Erdene Davaademberel; Eesha Karavade drew with Srija Seshadri; Enkhatuul Altan_Ulzii lost to Rakshitta Ravi.