Asian Continental 2022 R4: Priyanka Nutakki and Saina Salonika dazzle

Full of exciting games

The Asian Continental Championship 2022 is a very strong event. The participation of strong GMs and IMs, the average rating of 2426 in the Open and 2169 in the Women speaks volumes about the competiton. There are plethora of exciting games and the tournament is yet to reach the halfway mark. IM Koustav Chatterjee, GM Leon Luke Mendonca, GM Maksat Atabayev (TKM), GM Karthikeyan Murali, GM Praggnanandhaa and GM Harsha Bharathakoti in the Open, WGM Priyanka Nutakki, WGM Thi Kim Phung Vo (VIE) and WGM Nandhidhaa P V in the Women are the leaders at 3.5/4 each.

Open: Leon - S L Narayanan: 0.5-0.5

GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2558) showed some fantastic defensive technique in a difficult position against GM S L Narayanan (2663).

Black is making some deadly threats 43...Rxd2 followed by 44...Qxb1+ and win the game. White took the knight 43.Rxc6 and now Rxd2 does not work as 44.Rc8+ exploiting the vulnerability of Black's king. Thus, he had to double the rook on d-file 43...Rbd7 44.Qb6! Rxd2 45.Rxb2! Qxb2 46.Rxg6+ forces a draw by perpetual check as Black has no better defence. It is undoubtedly an incredible finish.

Pranav Anand - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1

Just when it seemed like India's latest GM and the newly crowned World Under-16 champion, Pranav Anand (2502) will have a relatively smooth play, the top seed of the tournament GM R Praggnanandhaa (2687) showed why he is in a top form.

26...Na2 may come to him quite naturally. However finding resources like this is what is called a game changer. It is certainly not easy to find the correct continuation for White 27.gxh6 especially in time trouble. The game continued 27.Nxa2 Re2 28.Qh4 Rxh2 suddenly Black's moves are flowing as well as White's did few moves ago. 29.Qg4 Ng6 30.f4 Ree2 White is in deep trouble 31.gxh6 Qd8 bringing the final piece to the action. 32.Nc3 Qh4 33.Qxe2 Rxe2 34.Nxe2 Black is now winning as it is not easy to hold Black's attack.

Aditya Mittal - Karthikeyan: 0-1

The usual response to someone attacking a rook would be to save it. That's not the case when you are facing one of the most creative Indian GMs, Karthikeyan Murali (2623). He can sacrifice any piece at any point of time, even though it might seem without any reason, he obviously has a deeper understanding behind it.

IM Aditya Mittal (2486) played 21.b5 doing a discovery attack on the f8-rook. Black was not interested in saving the rook. Instead, he opted 21...cxb5 22.Bxf8 Bxf8 23.Nd5 Rc8 24.Nxf6+ Qxf6 and he went on to win the game with some masterful play with his bishop pair. This game would certainly go in the strategic exchange sacrifices if a book on that topic is written someday.

Koustav - Rinat: 1-0

IM Koustav Chatterjee (2496) once again made a lucky escape. This time it earned him a full point against the Kazakhstan no.1 GM Rinat Jumabayev (2620).

13...Qxc5 was the first exchange sacrifice offered by Black. It was quite sound. 13...Rxb2 was the other choice. He sacrificed another in another four moves before blundering in mutual time trouble to lose the game in a completely winning position.

Sandipan - Harsha: 0-1

The wildest game of the round was certainly between GM Sandipan Chanda (2474) and GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2582). Harsha might have arrived late on the board. However, he was certainly not late in seizing every opportunity he was presented.

When was the last time you saw such a volatile position arising out of QGD Exchange variation? 17.Kg2 Qxd4 18.Nb5 Qb6 19.Bf5 both players trading blows and none were ready to back down any time soon. While the game had the potential to become another gem by Sandipan, unfortunately his inaccuracies became one time too many and went on to lose the game as it is quite well-known Harsha also thrives on sharp positions.

Aryan - Maksat: 0-1

GM Aryan Chopra (2629) got a dominating position out of the opening against Turkmenistan no.3 GM Maksat Atabayev (2475).

White has a significant advantage thanks to his pawns on the kingside. However, Aryan made an inoccuous exchange sacrifice 22.Rxd5. Perhaps he was worried about 22.g5 Nxf4 23.Bxf4 Qxf4 24.Ne2 and White is doing fine or 22...e5 23.Ne2 also holds the fort together.

Women: Priyanka Nutakki - Tania: 1-0

The former Asian Continental Women's champion and the top seed of the tournament, IM Tania Sachdev (2406) took an ambitious approach against the 50th National Junior Girls champion, WGM Priyanka Nutakki (2326).

13...g4 lacks venom. It seems a hard attempt to get a win as after 14.hxg4 Nxg4 15.Bg3 is completely fine for White. Eventually White turned things around for her.

31.Rxg5+ is an effective combination which gives White a decisive advantage. 31...hxg5 32.Qxg5+ Rg6 33.Qxe5+ Kf8 34.Qe7+ Kg7 White repeated it twice to gain some time and then found 37.Ne3 Re8 38.Nf5+ to recover the material. The resultant queen ending is winning for White. However, queen endings are always tricky, thus the win was not an immediate one.

Saina - Bhakti: 1-0

A series of unforced error cost IM Bhakti Kulkarni (2376) her game against WIM Saina Salonika (2209).

20...Qa5? was the first mistake, self-pinning the b5-pawn. 21.bxc4 Rfc8? was another mistake as 22.Bxe5 Rc5?? was the biggest one as 23.Qxc5 gave White a decisive advantage.

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 4 Open games

Replay Round 4 Women games

Round 4 Open results

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Round 5 Open pairings

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Round 4 Women results

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Round 5 Women pairings

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Delhi Chess Association

Tournament Regulations

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