Port Blair, Nov 04: India dominated the 2022 Asian Chess Championship, which came to an end in New Delhi yesterday (November 3). Indian players swept the podium in both open and women’s sections, with R Praggnanadhaa and P V Nandhidhaa winning the titles. 140 players from 13 Asian countries which include 31 Grandmasters, 46 International Masters, 14 Women Grandmasters and 17 Women International Masters took part in the prestigious championship.
In the penultimate round, the top-rated player in the starting list Praggnanadhaa scored a crucial victory over Kostav Chatterjee and pulled ahead of his main competitions Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Harsha Bharathakoti, who faced each other and split a point. In the final round, Praggnanadhaa drew with his compatriot Adhiban and finished clear first on 7/9 as neither of his rivals managed to win.
As many as six participants tied for the second place, with Bharathakoti and Adhiban B taking silver and bronze, respectively, by dint of better tiebreaks. Interestingly, the top five finishers completed the event unbeaten.
Final standings Open:
1 GM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2687 7
2 GM Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2582 6½
3 GM Adhiban B. IND 2603 6½
4 GM Narayanan.S.L IND 2663 6½
5 GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin UZB 2568 6½
6 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2645 6½
7 GM Karthik Venkataraman IND 2486 6½
8 IM Pranesh M IND 2442 6
9 IM Viani Antonio Dcunha IND 2342 6
10 IM Pranav Anand IND 2502 6
The women’s event was a totally different scenario. The thirteen-rated Nandhidhaa P V grabbed the lead after Round 6 and never looked back. The 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu netted an impressive 7.5/9 and clinched the title with a round to spare.
Priyanka Nutakki lost to the champion in the leaders’ clash, but by pulling off a very important win over Padmini Rout in the final round, she tied for second place with Divya Deshmukh and Vo Thi Kim Phung. The silver medal goes to Priyanka Nutakki, they thanks to better Buchholz; Divya Deshmukh took the bronze.
Final standings Women:
1 WGM Nandhidhaa P V IND 2309 7½
2 WGM Priyanka Nutakki IND 2326 6½
3 WGM Divya Deshmukh IND 2338 6½
4 WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung VIE 2335 6½
5 FM Kurmangaliyeva Liya KAZ 2199 6
6 WGM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung VIE 2217 6
7 IM Padmini Rout IND 2390 6
8 WIM Aakanksha Hagawane IND 2162 5½
9 IM Mohota Nisha IND 2181 5½
10 WGM Vantika Agrawal IND 2362 5½
The event also served as qualification for the next year’s World Cup with the top four players in the Open and two players in the Women category securing their berth in the World cup.
