26th Asian Youth R8: Narayani Umesh Marathe fingertips away from her second Gold
Narayani Umesh Marathe bounced back with a victory in the penultimate round of 26th Asian Youth Under-8 Girls 2024. She convincingly defeated Azaliya Balakanova (IRI) to move to 7.5/8. A win makes her a clear champion. However, a draw might still prove to be enough to win the Gold. Under-10 Girls: Bijesh Divi lost her game today. However, she still has medal chances. Under-12 Open: Aadik Theophane Lenin needs a draw in the final round against Siddhanth Poonja to secure a medal. However, a win may fetch him a better one, even a Gold maybe. Under-12 Girls: Pratitee Bordoloi leveled her score with her rival Le Vy Tran (VIE). Pratitee needs to win her final round game first and hope everything else works in her favor. Round 9 starts tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time, 11:30 a.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Few more medal hopes involving lots of permutations and combinations
Kazakhstan Chess Federation organized a trip to Shymbulak Mountain Resort, the same place which Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave visited back in 2022 before World Rapid and Blitz. It was free for all participants, parents, accompanying persons, arbiters, media and everyone. Of course, it was optional but missing it would be a terrible decision. This is quite possibly the best day trip offered by any organizer ever. Both on 17th and 18th June, after Round 7 and 8 respectively, the entourage including organizers, volunteers were there to make sure everyone has a pleasant experience. We had a lifetime experience. The entirety of it will be shared in videos and a separate article will be published after the conclusion of the tournament, till then enjoy some beautiful photographs linked at the end of the report.
Under-8 Open
Top seed - Sarbartho Mani (1733) bounced back with a win against Shohjahon Sidikov (UZB, 1526). Although, he is 1.5 points behind his rating twin and sole leader - Rizat Ulan (KAZ, 1733), Sarbartho needs to beat Mohammad Taha Malaknezhad (IRI, 1655) in the final round and hope all other results work out in his favor to win a medal.
Round 9 pairings
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 2 | 1 | ACM | Mani Sarbartho | 1733 | 6 | 6½ | Malaknezhad Mohammad Taha | 1655 | 3 | ||||
| 9 | 4 | 16 | ACM | Kavish Palaniappan K | 1551 | 5½ | 5½ | Sultankhan Nurislam | 1543 | 17 | ||||
| 9 | 5 | 9 | Kalinin Bogdan | 1579 | 5 | 5½ | Hriday Garg | 1554 | 15 | |||||
| 9 | 19 | 43 | Khusanbaev Khudoyorkhon | 0 | 3½ | 3½ | Saathvik Chakravarthy Ramayanam | 1414 | 33 |
Under-8 Girls
Narayani Umesh Marathe (1416) scored her seventh win of the event. She defeated Azaliya Balakanova (KAZ, 1533) in the penultimate round. Top seed, Asena Golizadeh (IRI, 1561) continues her chase. She is just a half point behind Narayani 6/8. Narayani must win the last round game to become a clear champion. A draw might also be enough to win Gold on tie-breaks.
Round 9 pairings
| 9 | 1 | 15 | Narayani Umesh Marathe | 1416 | 7½ | 5½ | Kim Leyla | 1439 | 10 | |||||
| 9 | 2 | 1 | Golizadeh Asena | 1561 | 7 | 5½ | Nakshatra Gumudavelly | 0 | 31 |
Under-10 Girls
Bijesh Divi (1639) lost her game against the top seed WCM Alanna Berikkyzy (1871). However, the sole leader Alisa Genrietta Yunker (1735) won her penultimate round battle and Gold with a round to spare. Bijesh is at 6/8 with two more players. She still has a very good chance to earn a medal.
Round 9 pairings
| 9 | 3 | 12 | Smirnova Oksana Andr | 1635 | 5½ | 6 | Divi Bijesh | 1639 | 11 | |||||
| 9 | 4 | 17 | Samhita Pungavanam | 1596 | 5½ | 5½ | Tselmuun Ider | 1681 | 7 | |||||
| 9 | 5 | 14 | Filippova Milana | 1633 | 5 | 5½ | Aaradhya Das | 1762 | 3 | |||||
| 9 | 10 | 10 | Pooja Shree R | 1647 | 4½ | 4½ | Norkulova Malika | 1669 | 9 | |||||
| 9 | 11 | 13 | Abasova Darina Raf | 1633 | 4 | 4½ | Kiyana Parihar | 1559 | 20 |
Under-12 Open
Aadik Theophane Lenin (1852) defeated Adrian Sanches-Sharanin (1863) to move to 6.5/8. He will face Siddhanth Poonja (1958) who is at 6/8, in the final round. A draw guarantees Aadik a medal, irrespective of the outcome between CM Ramtin Kakavand (IRI, 2059) and Mehdi Pir (IRI, 2015). However, Aadik can go for a win and claim the Gold if the sole leader, Ramtin loses his final round game and Aadik wins. Tie-breaks may still play a spoilsport.
Round 9 pairings
| 9 | 2 | 6 | Siddhanth Poonja | 1958 | 6 | 6½ | AIM | Aadik Theophane Lenin | 1852 | 15 | ||||
| 9 | 8 | 14 | Ayaan Garg | 1861 | 5½ | 5½ | Shavkatov Temur | 1768 | 25 |
Under-12 Girls
Pratitee Bordoloi (1796) leveled Le Vy Tran's (VIE, 1755) score 7/8 each. However, her win still may not prove to be enough for Gold as the first tie-break is Direct Encounter which Pratitee lost in the fourth round. She needs to win her final round game against Kristina Zavivaeva (1666) and hope everything works out in her favor.
Round 9 pairings
| 9 | 1 | 2 | Pratitee Bordoloi | 1796 | 7 | 6½ | Zavivaeva Kristina | 1666 | 14 | |||||
| 9 | 3 | 22 | Siddhi Rao | 1601 | 5½ | 6 | Mamakova Aknur | 1648 | 17 | |||||
| 9 | 4 | 27 | Nicolas Nika Juris | 1579 | 5½ | 5½ | Pavithra R V | 1614 | 21 | |||||
| 9 | 19 | 19 | Jeda Helal | 1619 | 3 | 3 | Divya Gowrisankar | 0 | 46 |
For more Round 8 and day trip to Shymbulak Mountain Resort photos, please click at the respective links.
Replay live stream
Replay Under-18 Open Round 8 games
Replay Under-18 Girls Round 8 games
Links
Kazakhstan Chess Federation: fb page, instagram, youtube
