Asian Continental 2022 R2: Pranesh and Rakshitta score huge upsets

Saparmyrat makes a sensational start

After drawing his first round game against the top seed, GM Praggnanandhaa, the Turkmenistan no.3 IM Saparmyrat Atabayev stunned the Olympiad Gold medalist GM Nodirbek Yakubboev. Delhi's very own IM-elect FM Aaryan Varshney and FM Kashish Manoj Jain defeated IM Abdimalik Abdisalimov (UZB) and IM Prraneeth Vuppala; IM Nitish Belurkar, IM P Saravana Krishnan, IM Shahil Dey, FM Ayush Sharma, FM Suyog Wagh, FM Ojasva Singh, IM Dushyant Sharma and FM Aradhya Garg drew with GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB), GM Mitrabha Guha, GM Aryan Chopra, IM Ajay Karthikeyan, GM Visakh N R, GM Pranav V, GM Sankalp Gupta and IM Harshavardhan G B respectively. In a battle of former National Junior Girls champions, WIM Srishti Pandey held WGM Priyanka Nutakki to a draw. WGM-elect WIM Sakshi Chitlange drew with IM Padmini Rout.

Open: Pranesh - Aravindh: 1-0

The reigning National Rapid and Blitz champion, GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2625) opted for the Kalashnikov variation in the Sicilian opening. A passive choice under time trouble turned things completely in favor of his opponent, IM Pranesh (2442).

24...f4 was not a good choice. White thought that Ne7 or 24...Bxd5 25.exd5 Ne7 was a relatively better option.

Yakubboev - Saparmyrat: 0-1

Turkmenistan no.3 IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (2433) sacrificed a pawn in the English opening against GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB,2663).

19.exd5 Rad8 20.Rd1 Rfe8 Black's compensation for the pawn is the development and good coordination of his pieces. It will eventually fall as White cannot keep it protected for long. White's vulnerable king in the queen, rook and bishop endgame cost him the game.

Aryan - Shahil: 0.5-0.5

GM Aryan Chopra (2629) made some significant mistakes in the bishop vs knight endgame against IM Shahil Dey (2395).

The minor piece endgame is certainly not easy to play. 41.Kc1 invites trouble Kc4 42.b5 axb5 43.axb5 Kxb5 44.Bd4 Kc4 45.Bg7 Kd5 46.Kd1. Find out how should have Black continued to score the full point. Black loosened the grip a bit 46...Nc5 47.Ke1 Ke4 48.Bh6 Ne6. He still got a couple of more chances, however Aryan eventually escaped with a draw.

Sambit - Iniyan: 1-0

FM Sambit Panda (2362) got a fantastic position out of the opening against GM Iniyan P (2541).

Iniyan capturing the c3-pawn and venturing out with his queen cost him a lot of tempi. First five out of ten moves were by the queen only. Sambit had no trouble converting his advantage into a win, finishing with a nice discover checkmate by promoting his pawn.

Ritviz - Arjun Kalyan: 1-0

Double IM-norm holder, FM Ritviz Parab (2337) played 1.g3 to beat GM Arjun Kalyan (2526).

Ritviz felt Black should have gone 17...cxd5 18.Nxd5 to ensure his position does not get cramped up. 17...Qb8 made things too passive for Black 18.e5 Nf5 19.g4 and White's pieces became too strong for Black.

Aaryan - Abdimalik: 1-0

IM-elect FM Aaryan Varshney (2312) scored a fantastic victory over IM Abdimalik Abdisalimov (UZB, 2457).

40.Ng5+ is such a beautiful move. Black obviously cannot take it as 40...hxg5 runs into 41.Bc5 followed by Qh3+. 40...Kh8 41.Ne6 Ra4 42.Bg5 another excellent move echoing the same idea of attacking through the h-file.

Prraneeth - Kashish: 0-1

FM Kashish Manoj Jain's (2300) attack turned out to be stronger than IM Prraneeth Vuppala's (2451) as both sides launched a devastating attack on their opponent's king.

23.h6 was a mistake. Find out why.

Women: Rakshitta - Bhakti: 1-0

IM Bhakti Kulkarni (2376) made a dubious choice of going into a double rook and minor piece endgame within the first ten moves of the game against WIM Rakshitta Ravi (2219).

24...d5 did not help Black's case as 25.exd5+ cxd5 26.h6 only helps White. At firt she did not capture and went with 25.h6 R2g6 then she did take 26.exd5+ cxd5 27.cxd5+ Nxd5 28.h7 Rh8 28.Nc3 Nf6. The position soon liquidated into a knight endgame which White won with a beautiful finish.

Sometimes the position demands you to play 62.Na8. White is threatening 63.Nb6 to deflect the knight and promote her b-pawn. It is unstoppable.

A total of 91 players including 31 GMs and 39 IMs in the Open, 49 players including 7 IMs, 14 WGMs and 17 WIMs in the Women, are taking part from 13 countries across the world including India. The nine-round Swiss League tournament will take place from 26th October to 3rd November 2022 at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi. It is organized by Delhi Chess Association. The time control of the tournament is 90 Minutes for 40 moves + 30 Minutes with increment of 30 second from move 1.

Replay Round 2 Open games

Replay Round 2 Women games

Round 2 Open results

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Round 3 Open pairings

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Round 2 Women results

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Round 3 Women pairings

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Delhi Chess Association

Tournament Regulations

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