Asian Individual 2025 R1: Paulo Bersamina holds Nihal Sarin to a draw
by Shahid Ahmed - 08/05/2025
Asian Individual Open and Women Chess Championship is back after skipping the previous edition in 2024. Why it did not take place or what happens to the qualification spots of that missing edition, is anybody's guess. GM Nihal Sarin is the top seed in the Men section. He was held to a draw by IM Paulo Bersamina (PHI) in the first round. IM Ameya Audi also shared the point with GM Abhimanyu Puranik. The reigning National Classical and Rapid Champions - GM Karthikeyan Venkataraman and GM Iniyan Pa made a winning start. In the Women's event, IM Vantika Agrawal, WGM Rakshitta Ravi and WGM Priyanka Nutakki scored a victory among the top Indians. Round 2 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Hossam El Baz / Asian Chess Federation
Vishwa Vasnawala shares the point with Padmini Rout
The first round witnessed several upsets. Gone are the days when the rating favorites are the favorite to win their first round games. The FIDE Women's World Cup 2023 winner, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina is playing in the 'Men section'. She defeated IM Prathamesh Mokal. The total prize fund is US$ 80000 combining Classical and Blitz events for both Men and Women. The top three prizes in Men are US$ 10000, 8000 and 6000, for Women they are US$ 7000, 6000 and 5000 respectively. Top ten in Men and top two in Women will qualify to their respective World Cup, slated to take place this year.
Paulo - Nihal

Position after 46.g3
GM Nihal Sarin (2693) proceeded with the obvious break 46...a4 47.Rxa4 Rxa4 48.bxa4 Rxb2+ 49.Nxb2 c4 50.Nxc4+ Kc5 Black is making an attempt to storm his king in supporting the passed d-pawn's promotion 51.Nb2 Kb4 52.Kg2 Kc3 53.Nd1+ Kc2 54.Nf2 d3 55.a5 Nc5 56.f4 d2 57.e5 fxe5 58.fxe5 Nd3 soon both sides promoted a queen and draw became the only outcome.

IM Paulo Bersamina (PHI) held the top seed GM Nihal Sarin to a draw | Photo: Hossam El Baz

IM Ameya Audi (pictured) held GM Abhimanyu Puranik to a draw | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Pranesh - Ranindu

Position after 40...Rf8??
Find out the winning combination which GM Pranesh M (2576) played in the game against IM Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage (SRI, 2387).

GM Pranesh M made a winning start against IM Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage (SRI) | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

IM Senthil Maran K (pictured) - GM Aditya Mittal: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

WGM Gulmira Dauletova (KAZ), Technical Delegate, made the first move on Women's top board | Photo: Hossam El Baz

WIM Vishwa Vasnawala (pictured) drew with IM Padmini Rout

Round 1 Open in progress | Photo: Hossam El Baz

Round 1 Women in progress | Photo: Hossam El Baz
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Replay Round 1 Women games
Round 1 Open results
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Standings after Round 1
Rk. | SNo | | | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 |
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1 | 2 | | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | IRI | 2670 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2 | 4 | | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | IND | 2658 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 | 5 | | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | UZB | 2641 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
4 | 7 | | GM | Salem, A.R. Saleh | UAE | 2631 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
5 | 11 | | GM | Xu, Xiangyu | CHN | 2623 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
6 | 12 | | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | IRI | 2621 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7 | 16 | | GM | Paravyan, David | FID | 2596 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 | 18 | | GM | Pranesh, M | IND | 2576 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
9 | 19 | | GM | Iniyan, Pa | IND | 2573 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
10 | 21 | | GM | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | IND | 2569 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Round 2 pairings
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Round 1 Women results
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Standings after Round 1
Rk. | SNo | | | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 |
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1 | 2 | | GM | Gunina, Valentina | FID | 2425 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2 | 4 | | IM | Song, Yuxin | CHN | 2397 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 | 5 | | IM | Pham, Le Thao Nguyen | VIE | 2388 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
4 | 6 | | IM | Aulia, Medina Warda | INA | 2377 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
5 | 7 | | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | IND | 2377 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
6 | 10 | | IM | Batkhuyag, Munguntuul | MGL | 2359 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7 | 12 | | IM | Kamalidenova, Meruert | KAZ | 2345 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 | 14 | | WIM | Khamdamova, Afruza | UZB | 2344 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
9 | 16 | | WGM | Nurman, Alua | KAZ | 2338 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
10 | 17 | | IM | Bodnaruk, Anastasia | FID | 2332 | 1 | 0,0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Round 2 pairings
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