Nandhidhaa P V clinches Gold at Asian Continental Women 2022 with a round to spare

Praggnanandhaa inches closer towards Gold

The Asian Continental Chess Championship 2022 is coming to a close in a few hours. However, few players have the opportunity to make a strong finish and spoil their opponent's event. Will Adhiban and Divya topple the leader Praggnanandhaa and Nandhidhaa in the final round? We will know in a few hours. There will be nine rounds of exciting Blitz event afterwards.

Open: Koustav - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1

The game between IM Koustav Chatterjee (2496) and the top seed, GM Praggnanandhaa (2687) rapidly liquidated into a balanced queen, rook and bishop endgame after 24 moves.

27.Qxc6 Rd1+ 28.Kg2 Qf1+ 29.Kf3 might look dangerous but it is actually the recommended way to play for White. Of course it is difficult to find for a human. White opted 27.Qxb5 cxb5 28.Rc2 Rd3 29.Kf1 Rb3 30.Bc1 and things snowballed out of control for White. 28.Rc5 Bxb2 29.Rxb5 Bxa3 30.Ra5 is still better than what transpired in the game.

Saparmyrat - Narayanan: 0-1

IM Saparmyrat Atabayev's (TKM, 2433) unbeaten streak came to an end against GM S L Narayanan (2663).

37...b4 was the perfect break Black needed in this major piece endgame. 38.axb4 axb4 39.c4 b3 40.f4 exf4 41.gxf4 Qg4 42.Qd4+ f6 White has too many hanging pawns 43.Qf2 Rxc4 and it's over for White.

Leon - Adhiban: 0-1

GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2558) had a substantial advantage for the better part of the game against GM B Adhiban (2603). A tactical error shifted the momentum completely in favor of his opponent.

33.Qf3 walked right into a trap Nhf4+ 34.Kh2 Qe5. Sure White recovered the knight in the next few moves. However, the king became vulnerable and Black had no trouble exploiting it to win the game.

Karthik - Maksat: 1-0

The Atabayev brothers had a tough day. GM Karthik Venkataraman (2486) got a better position out of the opening against GM Maksat Atabayev (TKM, 2475). He was unable to get out of the gate for the rest of the game.

Pranav V - Pranesh: 0-1

IM Pranesh M (2442) scored a very nice win over GM Pranav Venkatesh (2530).

Pranesh brought his queen into the action very quickly with 20...Qe4, 21...Qa4 and then centralized his bishop 22...Be4. 23.Nb3 was a big mistake as it allowed the tactical shot 23...Bxc2+ 24.Kb2 Rxe2 25.Qxe2 Bxb3 26.axb3 Qxf4 27.Rd3 a5 28.Rf3 Qc7 sometimes retreating a piece is a good idea even though you are attacking. 29.Qe4 a4 30.Ra1 Na5 31.bxa4 Nbc4+ 32.Kc2 Qb6 and White resigned as there were too many threats to thwart.

Women: Nandhidhaa - Soumya: 1-0

WGM Nandhidhaa P V (2309) registered her sixth win of the event against IM Soumya Swaminathan (2326). The latter did not castle at the right time which cost her a pawn.

Black had to go for 28...0-0 29.Qxe5 has Bd5 and 29.fxe5 meant a5. Losing the e5-pawn was a better choice than dropping the g7-pawn as it completely destroys Blacks pawn structure on the kingside and there is not enough compensation for him. 28...exf4 29.Qxg7 Ke7 30.Qd4 f3 31.Bxf3 White had a pleasant position which she comfortably converted into a full point.

Priyanka - Divya: 0-1

WGM Priyanka Nutakki (2326) suffered her second loss of the event with the white pieces. WGM Divya Deshmukh (2338) seized her opportunity when White left the b-file to be claimed by her opponent's rook.

25.Rxb7 Qxb7 26.Bc1 Qb5 27.Qc2 is still worth a fight. 25.Re1 Rb3 dropped a pawn and White did not get enough counter-attack on the queenside as much as she would have wanted.

Padmini - Mary: 1-0

IM Padmini Rout (2390) got herself in a commanding position in less than 20 moves against her good friend and rival on the board, WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2324).

It is undoubtedly quite difficult for Black to defend the above position. White has all the advantage, space being the maximum. Mary Ann still put up a fight, however it was not enough.

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 8 Open games

Replay Round 8 Women games

Round 8 Open results

Details

Round 9 Open pairings

Details

Round 8 Women results

Details

Round 9 Women pairings

Details

Links

Delhi Chess Association

Tournament Regulations

Related news:

	Divya Deshmukh clinches Gold at Asian Continental Blitz Women 2022, Mary Silver and Aravindh Bronze in Open @ 09/11/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Nandhidhaa P V Golden at Asian Continental 2022 Women, Priyanka Nutakki Silver and Divya Bronze @ 08/11/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Praggnanandhaa wins Gold at Asian Continental 2022, Silver for Harsha and Adhiban Bronze @ 06/11/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Continental 2022 R7: Praggnanandhaa grinds a 137-move marathon over six hours @ 02/11/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Continental 2022 R6: Nandhidhaa gains sole lead, Harsha remains the frontrunner @ 01/11/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Continental 2022 R5: Harsha Bharathakoti races ahead @ 31/10/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Continental 2022 R4: Priyanka Nutakki and Saina Salonika dazzle @ 30/10/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Continental 2022 R3: Leon Luke Mendonca emerges early sole leader @ 29/10/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Continental 2022 R2: Pranesh and Rakshitta score huge upsets @ 28/10/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Continental 2022 R1: A tough start for the top seeds @ 27/10/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Praggnanandhaa and Tania Sachdev are the top seeds at Asian Continental 2022 @ 25/10/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)