19th Asian Games 2022 Team R1: India beats Mongolia and Philippines 3.5-0.5

Shahid AhmedSeptember 30, 20232 min read

Indian Men and Women defeated Mongolia and Philippines convincingly in the first round of 19th Asian Games 2022 Team. Both matches were decided with 3.5-0.5 score in favor of India. D Gukesh had a shaky start. He was on the brink of defeat against GM Sumiya Bilguun (MGL). However, he somehow managed to escape with a draw. His remaining teammates - R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi won their respective games comfortably. Among the Women, only IM Vantika Agrawal was held to a draw by WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda (PHI). GM Harika Dronavalli, IM Vaishali R and WGM Savitha Shri B won their respective games without any difficulty. Indian Men will face Uzbekistan, while the Women's team will be up against Vietnam. Round 2 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Official site

Gukesh survives a big scare

Men Round 1: India - Mongolia: 3.5-0.5

19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 official logo | Photo: Asian Games fb page

Men: India - Mongolia: 3.5-0.5

GM D Gukesh (2758) was held to a draw by GM Sumiya Bilguun (2456). GM R Praggnanandhaa (2727), GM Vidit Gujrathi (2716) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2712) scored victories over GM Tsegmed Batchuluun (2449), IM Sugar Gan-Erdene (2418) and IM Ganzorig Amartuvshin (2412) respectively.

Gukesh - Bilguun

Position after 43...Nd2

42.b5?? spelled doom for White. Bilguun found the correct 43...Nd2 however he could not follow through correctly 44.Rd1 Nf3+ 45.Kh1 now Qe2 would have dropped material as both rook and e7-bishop would have been under attack. 45...Qxf2? and Gukesh managed to salvage a draw.

India - Mongolia: 3.5-0.5

Replay India - Mongolia games

Indian Men are off to a great start

Round 1 Men in progress

Women: Philippines - India: 3.5-0.5

GM Harika Dronavalli (2502), IM Vaishali R (2448) and WGM Savitha Shri B (2375) scored wins over WGM Janelle Mae Frayna (2215), WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego (2156) and WIM Bernadette Galas (2045) respectively. IM Vantika Agrawal (2435) was held to a draw by WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda (2143).

Vaishali - Marie Antoinette

Position after 22...Qh7

White is ready to launch an attack on the queenside as all her pieces - queen, two rooks, bishop and knight are poised for the attack. Find out the best way to execute the plan which Vaishali played in the game.