Asian Youth Championship 2016

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 17/04/2016

Approximately 470 young players assembled at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia for the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2016. The tournament came to a close on 14 April 2016 with the Indians scooping up a total of eight medals — three golds, two silvers, and three bronzes. A report highlighting the winners with games.

Asian Youth Championship 2016: Eight medals for India!

Approximately 470 young players assembled at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia for the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2016. The tournament began on 6th April 2016 and will be played over nine rounds in various categories.

The tournament came to a close on 14 April 2016 with the Indians scooping up a total of eight medals — three golds, two silvers, and three bronzes. While Divya Deshmukh, Praggnanandhaa R., and Anwesha Mishra dominated their respective categories to win the gold medals, Harshita Guddanti, and Iniyan P. got home the silver medals. Khushi Khandelwal, Aditya Mittal, and Vaishali R. also scored the bronze in their categories. We bring you some of the highlights from the winners' perspective.

In the open under-10 category, Mumbai's Aditya Mittal (2057) was bronze due to an untimely loss in the middle of the tournament.

[Event "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2016 (Un"]
[Site "Ulaanbaatar (MONGOLIA)"]
[Date "2016.04.08"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Amilal, Munkhdalai"]
[Black "Aditya, Mittal"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1774"]
[BlackElo "2057"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2016.04.06"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MGL"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8.
Be3 Bb4 9. Na4 Be7 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Nb6 Rb8 12. Nxc8 Qxc8 13. e5 Nd5 14. Bc1
Bc5 15. c4 Ne7 16. b3 Qc7 17. Bb2 Ng6 18. Kh1 O-O 19. f4 d6 20. Bd3 Rfd8 21.
Bxg6 hxg6 22. exd6 Rxd6 23. Be5 Rxd1 24. Bxc7 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 Rc8 26. Ba5 Bd4 27.
Rd1 c5 28. g3 f6 29. Kg2 g5 30. fxg5 f5 31. g6 Kf8 32. Bb6 Ke7 33. h4 Kf6 34.
h5 e5 35. Kf3 Kg5 36. b4 Kxh5 37. Ba7 cxb4 38. Bxd4 exd4 39. Rxd4 Kxg6 40. c5
a5 41. Rd6+ Kg5 42. Rd5 Kf6 43. c6 Rxc6 44. Rxa5 Rc3+ 45. Kg2 Ra3 46. Rb5 Rxa2+
47. Kh3 Rb2 0-1

Maharashtra girl WFM Divya Deshmukh (1894) has been ruling the age category tournaments since time immemorial, and she continued to do so with another gold performance to win the girls under-12 section.

[Event "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2016 (Und"]
[Site "Ulaanbaatar (MONGOLIA)"]
[Date "2016.04.11"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Divya, Deshmukh"]
[Black "Jyothsna, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1894"]
[BlackElo "1749"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2016.04.06"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MGL"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nh3 Nf6 8. Nf4
Bh7 9. Bc4 Nbd7 10. O-O Nb6 11. Bb3 Nbd5 12. Qf3 Nxf4 13. Bxf4 e6 14. Rfe1 Nd5
15. Be5 b5 16. Qg4 f5 17. Qf3 Qd7 18. Nh5 O-O-O 19. a4 b4 20. Bc4 Kb7 21. Nf4
Re8 22. Bxd5 cxd5 23. c4 bxc3 24. bxc3 Rc8 25. Reb1+ Ka8 26. c4 Bg8 27. Qb3 a6
28. Ng6 Rh7 29. Nxf8 Rxf8 30. Qb6 g5 31. Qxa6+ Qa7 32. Qc6+ Rb7 33. a5 1-0

Another golden boy for India is Tamil Nadu's FM Praggnanandhaa R. (2376) who dominated the field in open under-12 to bring home the gold.

[Event "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2016 (Und"]
[Site "Ulaanbaatar (MONGOLIA)"]
[Date "2016.04.12"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Praggnanandhaa, R."]
[Black "Peng, Shunkai"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2376"]
[BlackElo "2166"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2016.04.06"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MGL"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. d4 c6 7. Nbd2 a5 8. O-O
a4 9. c4 Qa5 10. Qc1 Re8 11. e4 Qh5 12. e5 dxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4 14. h3 Nh6 15. g4
Bxg4 16. hxg4 Qxg4 17. Nh2 Qc8 18. Ne4 Nf5 19. Qf4 Na6 20. Bh3 Nc7 21. Bxf5
Qxf5 22. Qxf5 gxf5 23. Nc5 axb3 24. axb3 b6 25. Nd7 b5 26. Nc5 bxc4 27. bxc4
Rab8 28. Bc3 Na8 29. Nf3 Nb6 30. Nd2 Rbd8 31. f4 Nd7 32. Ndb3 Nxc5 33. Nxc5 Bf8
1-0

Odisha's Anwesha Mishra (1839) delivered a power packed performance en route to 8.0/9, clinching India's third gold in the girls under-14 section.

[Event "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2016 (Und"]
[Site "Ulaanbaatar (MONGOLIA)"]
[Date "2016.04.11"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Bommini, Mounika Akshaya"]
[Black "Mishra, Anwesha"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1732"]
[BlackElo "1839"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2016.04.06"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MGL"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. d3 Na5 5. Nf3 d6 6. Ng5 Nxc4 7. dxc4 Be7 8.
O-O h6 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Qd3 Nd7 12. Ne2 Nc5 13. Qe3 Bg5 14. Nxg5 hxg5
15. f3 f6 16. Rd1 a5 17. b3 Ne6 18. Ba3 Qe7 19. c3 O-O 20. g4 Be8 21. Kf2 Kf7
22. Rh1 Rh8 23. Rad1 Bc6 24. b4 axb4 25. cxb4 b5 26. c5 dxc5 27. bxc5 Ra4 28.
Rb1 Rha8 29. Rb3 b4 30. Bxb4 Rxa2 31. Kg3 Nf4 32. Rh2 Bb5 33. Nc3 Rxh2 34. Kxh2
Bc4 35. Rb2 Rh8 36. Ba5 Rxh3+ 37. Kg1 Qe8 38. Rh2 Rxh2 39. Kxh2 Qh8+ 40. Kg1
Qh3 41. Qf2 Nd3 42. Qg2 Qh4 43. Qf1 Qg3+ 44. Qg2 Qe1+ 45. Kh2 Qa1 0-1

Khushi Khandelwal, the 14-year-old from Mumbai, won the bronze medal in the U-14 Girls section by scoring 6.5/9

Harshita Guddanti's (2024) two losses were offset by some timely victories that brought her the silver medal in girls under-16 for 7.0/9 on better tiebreak.

[Event "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2016 (Und"]
[Site "Ulaanbaatar (MONGOLIA)"]
[Date "2016.04.11"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Harshita, Guddanti"]
[Black "Vaishali, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2024"]
[BlackElo "2345"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2016.04.06"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MGL"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Nf6 6. d3 g6 7. Re1 Bg7 8. c3
O-O 9. Nbd2 Bd7 10. Nf1 Nh5 11. h3 h6 12. Bb3 Re8 13. Ne3 Nf4 14. Nd5 g5 15.
Nxf4 gxf4 16. d4 Qe7 17. a4 Rad8 18. a5 Qf6 19. Qd2 Kh8 20. Kh1 Rg8 21. d5 Ne7
22. c4 Ng6 23. Qe2 Nh4 24. Bd1 Bf8 25. Nxh4 Qxh4 26. Ra3 Rg6 27. Rf1 Be7 28.
Qh5 Qf6 29. Rg1 Rdg8 30. b4 Rg5 31. Qf3 Qg7 32. Be2 h5 33. Re1 Qg6 34. Bf1 Bg4
35. Qc3 Be2 36. Bxf4 Rg3 (36... Bxf1 37. Bxg5 Bxg2+) (36... Rxg2 37. Bg3 Rxf2
38. Bxf2 Bh4 39. Bg3 Bxg3 40. Qxg3 Qxe4+ 41. Bg2 Rxg3 42. Bxe4 Rxa3 43. Rxe2
Rxh3+ $11) 37. Bxg3 Bxf1 38. Rxf1 Qxe4 39. Qf3 Qxc4 40. Kg1 Kg7 1-0

WFM Vaishali R. was expected to smash her opponents to pulp, but could not quite manage due to an erroneous game against compatriot Harshita. With 7.0/9 as well, she settled for the bronze medal in girls under-16.

[Event "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2016 (Und"]
[Site "Ulaanbaatar (MONGOLIA)"]
[Date "2016.04.08"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Vaishali, R."]
[Black "Orazmukhammedova, Makhim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2345"]
[BlackElo "1809"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2016.04.06"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MGL"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Be2 Qc7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Nc3 Bb4 8.
Be3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nxe4 10. Bd3 Nf6 11. Re1 d5 12. Nf5 O-O 13. Nxg7 Nbd7 14. Nh5
Re8 15. Bg5 Nxh5 16. Qxh5 Qxc3 17. Qxh7+ Kf8 18. Bg6 1-0

With 6.5/9, Iniyan P (2315) just had enough to win the silver medal in open under-16.

[Event "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2016 (Und"]
[Site "Ulaanbaatar (MONGOLIA)"]
[Date "2016.04.07"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Iniyan, P."]
[Black "Garidmagnai, Byambasuren"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "2157"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.04.06"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MGL"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Na6 7. O-O e5 8. d5
Nc5 9. Qc2 a5 10. Ne1 Bg4 11. Bxg4 Nxg4 12. f3 Nf6 13. Be3 b6 14. a3 Nh5 15.
Rb1 f5 16. b4 Nd7 17. Nd3 axb4 18. axb4 Qe7 19. c5 Nf4 20. Nb5 bxc5 21. Bxf4
exf4 22. Nxc7 fxe4 23. fxe4 Qxe4 24. Nxa8 Rxa8 25. Rbe1 Qxd5 26. Nxf4 Qd4+ 27.
Kh1 Qxb4 28. Qd3 Kh8 29. Nxg6+ hxg6 30. Qh3+ Kg8 31. Qxd7 Kh7 32. Qh3+ Kg8 33.
Qe6+ Kh7 34. Re4 Rf8 35. Qh3+ Bh6 36. Re7+ Kg8 37. Qe6+ 1-0

Team India with their prizes and medals. The winners in the rapid and blitz competitions were also awarded prizes simultaneously with the standard results. You can read our report on the championship with the faster time controls here.

The tournament venue

More impressions:

In our previous report, we brought you some pictures by IM Atanu Lahiri describing his visit to a Mongolian village. Here are some more:

The hills, the planes, the earth and the rocks, overlooking the village.

It's play time! Note the vast amount of uninhabited land beyond.

Inside the cottage

Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue is a 40-meter-tall statue of Genghis Khan, accepted as the founding father of present day Mongolia, located east of the capital Ulaanbaatar on the banks of the river Tuul.

Complete overview of the Indian performance:

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Rk.	Group
16		Trisha Anshuman Jagtap	0	IND	1	½	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	4,5	12	U6G
15		Jack Samuel	0	IND	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	4,0	15	U6O
19		Shashindhar Kumar R	0	IND	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	4,0	19	U6O
1		Anagha K G R	1196	IND	1	1	1	½	0	1	½	1	0	6,0	8	U8G
4		Valety Swetha	1063	IND	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	5,0	15	U8G
5		Rout Yashita	1027	IND	1	1	0	0	1	½	1	1	½	6,0	9	U8G
21		Falak Joni Naik	0	IND	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	½	1	3,5	33	U8G
6		Priansh Das	1302	IND	½	1	0	0	1	½	1	1	1	6,0	10	U8O
7		Kadakia Veer	1288	IND	1	0	1	1	½	½	1	1	0	6,0	7	U8O
9		Midilesh Ms	1222	IND	½	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	3,5	35	U8O
10		Ayush J Yajaman	1184	IND	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	½	0	4,5	26	U8O
12		Bhagat Kush	1143	IND	1	½	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	5,5	12	U8O
18		Aryan Surya S A	0	IND	1	0	1	1	½	0	0	0	1	4,5	20	U8O
1	CM	Nikhil Magizhnan	2112	IND	1	½	½	1	½	1	0	0	1	5,5	14	U10O
2	CM	Aditya Mittal	2057	IND	1	1	1	0	1	½	½	1	1	7,0	3	U10O
4	CM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	1910	IND	1	1	0	1	1	½	1	1	0	6,5	5	U10O
6		Pranav V	1803	IND	1	1	1	0	1	½	½	1	1	7,0	4	U10O
8	CM	Shahil Dey	1736	IND	1	1	0	0	1	½	1	1	1	6,5	6	U10O
2	WFM	Divya Deshmukh	1894	IND	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	½	8,0	1	U12G
6		Jyothsna L	1749	IND	1	1	1	½	1	0	1	1	0	6,5	4	U12G
7	WCM	Mrudul Dehankar	1719	IND	1	0	½	1	1	1	0	1	½	6,0	8	U12G
8		Rakshitta Ravi	1655	IND	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	6,0	5	U12G
1	FM	Praggnanandhaa R	2376	IND	1	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	1	7,5	1	U12O
2	CM	Sadhwani Raunak	2167	IND	1	1	1	½	0	1	0	1	0	5,5	9	U12O
5		Boramanikar Tanisha S	1437	IND	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	½	0	5,5	9	U10G
13	WCM	Wankhade Sanskruti	1300	IND	1	0	1	0	½	1	½	1	1	6,0	6	U10G
14		Darsana M S	1262	IND	1	0	½	½	1	0	0	1	1	5,0	18	U10G
16		Khandelwal Krisha	1212	IND	1	0	0	1	1	½	0	0	1	4,5	21	U10G
20		Vishwa Vasnawala	1164	IND	1	0	1	½	0	0	1	1	½	5,0	16	U10G
1		Vantika Agrawal	2052	IND	1	0	1	1	1	½	1	0	½	6,0	4	U14G
2		Priyanka Nutakki	2009	IND	0	½	1	1	0	1	½	½	½	5,0	18	U14G
5		Mishra Anwesha	1839	IND	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	½	8,0	1	U14G
11		Makhija Aashna	1741	IND	1	1	0	½	½	1	½	½	½	5,5	10	U14G
13	WFM	Bommini Mounika Akshaya	1732	IND	1	1	½	1	½	0	0	0	0	4,0	24	U14G
17		Khandelwal Khushi	1670	IND	1	0	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	6,5	3	U14G
5		Bharambe Bhavik C	2163	IND	1	0	1	1	1	0	½	1	½	6,0	5	U14O
11		Harshavardhan G B	1861	IND	1	0	0	1	½	1	½	0	1	5,0	15	U14O
1	WFM	Vaishali R	2345	IND	1	1	1	1	½	0	1	½	1	7,0	3	U16G
4		Priyanka K	2026	IND	1	0	1	0	½	1	1	½	0	5,0	6	U16G
5		Harshita Guddanti	2024	IND	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	7,0	2	U16G
4		Iniyan P	2315	IND	1	1	½	1	½	1	0	1	½	6,5	2	U16O
7	FM	Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari	2260	IND	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	6,0	4	U16O
9	FM	Mitrabha Guha	2241	IND	1	1	½	1	½	½	0	½	1	6,0	7	U16O
1	WFM	Varshini V	2271	IND	1	½	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	6,5	4	U18G
4	WCM	Chandreyee Hajra	1969	IND	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	½	5,5	5	U18G
7	WFM	Potluri Supreetha	1897	IND	0	½	1	½	0	½	1	½	0	4,0	13	U18G
9		Toshali V	1856	IND	0	0	0	1	1	½	0	0	½	3,0	16	U18G
5	IM	Krishna Teja N	2233	IND	1	½	0	½	1	½	½	1	0	5,0	10	U18O
6	FM	Rajdeep Sarkar	2210	IND	1	1	½	1	0	½	1	1	0	6,0	4	U18O

Links:

Official website (sans photos, games, etc., because providing information is too mainstream)

ChessBase India congratulates the winners and also thanks all the competitors for trying their best to keep India's flag flying high at the 2016 Asian Youth Championship. You kids make all of us proud!