Traffic jam at the top at the Asian Continental Chess 2022 after R4

Six players at the open section and four players at the women section share the lead at the ongoing Asian Continental Chess Championship 2022. After four rounds no one has a full set of points, as early on rating favorites encountered problems. The open section leaders (see all participants Open section) with 3,5/4 are Koustav Chatterjee, Leon Luka Mendoca, Maksat Atabayev, Murali Karthikeyan, Praggnanandhaa, and Bharathakoti Harsha. In the women section (all participants Women section) with 3,5/4 are Nutakki Priyanka, Swaminathan Soumya, Vo Thi Kim Phung, and Nandhidhaa. Live games and replay here Scroll down for the full standings

Asian Continental round 2

Indian Sub-Junior champion International Master Pranesh M scored an upset victory over two time national champion and sixth seed Aravindh Chithambaram while third seed and member of Uzbekistan team which won Olympiad Gold Grandamster Nodirbek Yakubboev suffered a major setback to his title hopes and suffered shock defeat by the hands of Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan in the second round of ongoing Asian Continental Chess Championship here at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Thursday.

After a creditable draw against the top seed Praggnanandhaa in the opening round, Atabayev shown his class again to defeat his fancied rival in 57 moves arrived out of English Opening while playing with dark pieces in Kalashnikov variation of Sicilian defence, Aravindh faced time pressure towards first time control and failed to recover from a cramped position to handover full point to his younger rival.

Meanwhile in the Women’s section also there was no dearth for excitement as opting for classical variation of Scotch Game, Rakshitta Ravi defeated former Asian Women’s Champion Bhakti Kulkarni on top board while Sakshi Chitlange who held top seed Tania Sachdev in the opening round held Padmini Rout to a creditable draw. Vietnamese Women Grandmaster Thi Mai Hung Nguyen defeated Indian women champion Divya Deshmukh while FIDE Master Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan outwitted Women Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes.

In other important encounters in the second round, second seed S L Narayanan signed the peace treaty with Mongolian Grandmaster Bilguun Sumiya while fourth seed Sethuraman split the point with Arystanbek Urazayev of Kazakhstan.  Delhi’s Aaryan Varshney defeated International Master Abdisalimov Abdimalik of Uzbekistan while  FIDE Masters Ritviz Parab and Sambit Panda outwitted Grandmasters Arjun Kalyan and P Iniyan respectively. Ninth seed Abhijeet Gupta suffered a second upset on the trot against Tologon Tegin Semetei of Kyrgyzstan. After the minor setback in the opening round, top seed Praggnanndhaa defeated Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan.

Important Results Round-2 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Bilgunn Sumiya of Mongolia (1.5) drew with GM Narayanan S L (1.5); IM Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan (1.5) drew with GM Sethuraman S P (1.5); IM Pranesh M (2) beat GM Aravindh Chithambaram (1); GM Karthikeyan Murali (2) beat GM Venkatesh M R (1); IM Srihari L R (1) lost to GM Adhiban B (2); GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (1.5) drew with IM Nitish Belurkar (1.5); GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2) beat IM Amartuvshin Ganzorig of Mongolia (1); GM Shaym Sundar M (2) beat FM Saidakbar Saydaliev of Uzbekistan (1); FM Azat Nurmamedov of Turkmenistan (1) lost to IM Pranav Anand (2); IM Koustav Chatterjee (2) beat IM Krishna Teja N (1); Sanket Chakravarty (1) lost to GM Batchuluun Tsegmed of Mongolia (2); IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (1.5) drew with IM Aditya Mittal (1.5); Soltan Muradov of Turkmenistan (1) lost to GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (2); GM Sandipan Chanda (2) beat FM Sharan Rao (1); IM Saravana Krishnan (1.5) drew with GM Mitrabha Guha (1.5).

Women’s Round-2 :- WIM Rakshitta Ravi (2) beat IM Bhakti Kulkarni (1); WGM Divya Deshmukh (1) lost to WGM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung of Vietnam (2); WIM Saina Salonika (1) lost to IM Soumya Swaminathan (2); WGM Priyanka Nutakki (1.5) drew with WFM Srishti Pandey (1.5); FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2) beat WGM Mary Ann Gomes (1); WIM Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (1.5) drew with WGM Swati Ghate (1.5); WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (2) beat WIM Xeniya Balabayeva of Kazakhstan (1); WCM Jannatul Ferdous of Bangladesh (1) lost to WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (1.5); IM Tania Sachdev (1.5) beat WGM Srija Seshadri (.5);  IM Padmini Rout (1) drew with WIM Sakshi Chitlange (1). 

Asian Continental round 3

Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca defeated Mongolian Grandmaster Batchuluun Tsegmed to emerge as the sole leader on perfect score after the end of the third round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship now underway here at the Leela Ambience.

On what turned out to be a tough day for the Mongolian, Mendonca capitalized on most of the opportunities offered by his rival and took the point home.

In other important encounters, two-time Indian national champion Karthikeyan Murali missed the opportunity to garner full point and satisfied with half point against Koustav Chatterjee on top board while top seed Praggnanandhaa and second seed Narayanan S L got better off Pranesh M and Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan respectively.

In the women’s section, continuing her impressive show Kazakh girl Liya Kurmangaliyeva held International Master Soumya Swaminathan to a creditable draw while Woman International Master Saina Salonika shocked second seed Nomin Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia. It’s second defeat for the second seeded Mongolian in three matches as she suffered a setback in the opening round against Kurmangaliyeva. Ten players including top seed Tanaia Sachdev, who defeated Kiran Manisha Mohanty are now sharing the lead with two half points.

Important Results Round-3 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Karthikeyan Murali (2.5) drew with IM Koustav Chatterjee (2.5); GM Adhiban B (2.5) drew with GM Sandipan Chanda (2.5); GM Batchuluun Tsegmed of Mongolia (2) lost to GM Leon Luke Mendonca (3); GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (2.5) drew with GM Shyam Sundar M (2.5); IM Pranav Anand (2.5) drew with GM Raja Rithvik R (2.5); GM Praggnanandhaa R (2.5) beat IM Pranesh M (2); GM Narayanan S L (2.5) beat IM Arystanbek Urazayev of Kazakhstan (1.5); GM Sethuraman S P (2) drew with GM Bilguun Sumiya of Mongolia (2); GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (2.5) beat GM Laxman R R (1.5); GM Mitrabha Guha (2) drew with GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2); GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2.5) beat FM Sambit Panda (1.5); IM Samant Aditya (2) drew with GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan (2); IM Nitish Belurkar (2) drew with Alisher Suleymenov of Kazakhstan (2); IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (2.5) beat IM Shyaamnikhil P (1.5); IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (2) drew with GM Karthik Venkataraman (2).

Women’s Round-3 :- IM Soumya Swaminathan (2.5) drew with FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2.5); WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (2.5) drew with WIM Rakshitta Ravi (2.5); IM Tania Sachdev (2.5) beat WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (2); WIM Isha Sharma lost to WGM Vantika Agrawal (2.5); WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (2.5) beat WIM Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (1.5); WGM Srishti Pandey (1.5) lost to WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnama (2.5); WIM Aashna Makhija (1.5)  lost to WGM Priyanka Nutakki (2.5); WGM Swati Ghate (1.5) lost to WGM Nandhidhaa P V (2.5); IM Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia (1) lost to WIM Saina Salonika (2); Xeniya Balabayeva of Kazakhstan (1.5) drew with IM Padmini Rout (1.5); IM Bhakti Kulkarni (2) beat WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (1); WGM Munkhzul Davaakhuu of Mongolia (1) lost to WGM Divya Deshmukh (2); IM Eesha Karavade (1.5) drew with WIM Parnali S Dharia (1.5); WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2) beat WCM Jannatul Ferdous of Bangladesh (1); WIM Sakshi Chitlange (1.5) drew with WGM Gulmira Dauletova of Kazakhstan (1.5). 

Asian Continental round 4

After an five hours grueling battle, eleventh seed Woman Grandmaster Priyanka Nuttaki shocked top seed and former Asian Women Champion Tania Sachdev while continuing her fine form in the event Saina Salonika downs fourth seed and 2016 edition winner Bhakti Kulkarni in the fourth round of Asian Continental Women’s Chess Championship which is now underway at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Saturday.

While in the Open section, top seed Praggnanandhaa R defeated IM Pranav Anand to join overnight sole leader Leon Luke Mendonca and four others in the leaders board.  Pragganandhaa and Mendonca now have the company of compatriot Karthikeyan Murali, Harsha Bharathakoti, Turkmenistan Grandmaster Maksat Atabayev and International Master Koustav Chatterjee are sharing the lead with three and half points.

On top board Mendonca showed great defensive skill to hold second seed Narayanan S L while Karthikeyan Murali outwitted Aditya Mittal in a fine crafted play with a pair of bishops. Harsha Bharthakoti joined the leaders after capitalizing crucial errors made by his Indian Grandmaster rival Sandipan Chanda while Koustav Chatterjee had a lucky escape against Kazakh No. 1 Grandmaster Rinat Jumabayev to secure full point from the outing.  The lone non-Indian among the leaders, Atabayev got the better of Grandmaster Aryan Chopra in a long battle that ended after 90 moves.

In other important encounters in the Women’s section, Nandhidhaa P V beat Vantika Agrawal while Vietnamese Women Grandmaster Vo Thi Kim Phung defeated Liya Kurmangaliyeva to be at joint leaders position along with Priyanka, Nandhidhaa and Soumya Swaminathan, who beat Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam in the fourth round encounter.

Important Results Round-4 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Leon Luke Mendonca (3.5) drew with GM Narayanan  S L (3); IM Pranav Anand (2.5) lost to GM Praggnanandhaa R (3.5); IM Aditya Mittal (2.5) lost to GM Karthikeyan Murali (3.5); IM Koustav Chatterjee (3.5) beat GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (2.5); GM Raja Rithvik (3) drew with GM Adhiban B (3); GM Sandipan Chanda (2.5) lost to GM Harsha Bharathakoti (3.5); GM Shyam Sundar M (3) drew with IM Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (3); GM Aryan Chopra (2) lost to Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (3.5); IM Pranesh M (2) lost to GM Sethuraman S P (3); IM Srihari L R (2) lost to GM Aravindh Chithambaram (3); GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2.5) drew with IM Aditya Samant (2.5); GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan (3) beat IM Amartuvshin Ganzorig of Mongolia (2); IM Alisher Suleymenov of Kazakhstan (2) lost to Sanket Chakravarty (3); IM Samed Jaykumar Shete (3) beat GM Batchuluun Tsegmed of Mongolia (2); GM Karthik Venkataraman (2.5) drew with Nitish Belurkar (2.5).

Women’s Round-4 :- WGM Priyanka Nutakki (3.5) beat IM Tania Sachdev (2.5); WGM Vantika Agrawal (2.5) lost to WGM Nandhidhaa P V (3.5); WIM Rakshitta Ravi (3) drew with WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (3); WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (3.5) beat FM Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2.5); WM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (2.5) lost to IM Soumya Swaminathan (3.5); WIM Saina Salonika (3) beat IM Bhakti Kulkarni (2); WGM Divya Deshmukh (2.5) drew with WIM Cholleti Sahajasri (2.5); WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (2.5) drew with WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2.5); IM Padmini Rout (2.5) beat WIM Mrudul Dehankar (1.5); IM Nisha Mohota (2) drew with IM Eesha Karavade (2). 

Asian Continental 2022 standings open section

Asian Continental Chess 2022 standings women section