India dominates Asian Youth 2018 with 35 gold medals!

by Sagar Shah - 10/04/2018

What an amazing event it was! India won 35 gold medals in Team and Individual combined in all the three formats Classical, Rapid and Blitz to stand out as the most powerful chess country in Asia as on today. And we were miles ahead of the second placed Vietnam team which won 17 gold medals. This was a fantastic team effort with AICF making sure that all the qualified players get their expenses covered by the Government of India, the parents and coaches supporting the players in every possible way and the players fighting it out with everything that they have on the board! India shining! A detailed report with pictures and analysis of winners' games.

A huge crowd gathered at the closing ceremony of the Asian Youth Championship 2018. The Indian table was the loudest! Every time one of our players would get the medal, the team would erupt into a loud cheer! Coaches, officials, kids everyone was having the time of their life!

Coaches, kids, officials - everyone enjoyed the moment to the fullest! | Source: TJ Suresh Kumar

And why wouldn't we! The youngsters had shown how dominant Indians are by winning 35 gold medals in team and individual competition in all the three formats combined - Classical, Rapid and Blitz.

That's how India fared! If you look closely, India tops in each and every format! | Photo: TJ Suresh Kumar

68 medals is quite a lot. India won 33 medals in Individual format and 35 in team. Our youngsters won 14 individual gold medals and 21 as a team. The team medals is something new that was introduced here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The points of top three players in each group would be added and the team that has the most cumulative points gets the gold medal. India did well in almost all sections showing that we had more than one player doing well in the respective categories.

But, just a few hours before this celebration, everything was quiet. The coaches and parents were tense. The players had their heads in their hands. One mistake could mean the difference between a gold and a medal-less finish. The stakes were high, but the kids had their nerves under control. In the end we won four gold medals, five silver, and five bronze in the classical format. Here's a close look at the champions!

D. Gukesh - gold under-12

Gukesh was the highest rated player not just in his section but amongst the entire 1000+ players who had gathered at the Asian Youth 2018. He stayed true to his top billing and clean sweeped the under-12 section with three gold medals in the classical, rapid and blitz section. His main competitor was Iranian Bardiya Daneshwar, who was the second seed and rated 2361. Gukesh made sure that he scored the full point against him in the fifth round.

The battle of two prodigies - Gukesh and Bandeshwar. We are sure to see their paths crossing in future as well | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

One of the things that I noticed in Gukesh's games was that when the positions were complex he found interesting ideas, but there was high chances that the game could go either way. But when the endgames arrived, he was just at an altogether different level. The boy knew just where his pieces belonged and outplayed his opponents with absolute ease. Take for example his last round win:

The golden boy of Indian chess! | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Gukesh goes back home with 6 medals - 5 gold and 1 bronze. Apart from three individual golds, he got two gold medals in team rapid and blitz and a bronze in the classical section. Gukesh will next play in the Bangkok Open in Thailand. Does the boy already have it in him to start fighting for the GM title? Well, I have to say there are a lot of areas where Gukesh can work and improve upon, but that's the scary part (for his future rivals!). If he has already reached 2400, what would happen if he starts fixing his problems! The boy is yet to turn 12 and he is already an IM. Gukesh is clearly going to make it big in the years to come. We have our eyes on him and we recommend you to do the same!

Sahithi Varshini - gold under-12 girls

Sahithi Varshini won golds in the rapid and classical format and a silver in blitz | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

To show you how talented this girl is, let me narrate an anecdote. World famous trainer and author Jacob Aagaard visited the Asian Youth in Thailand on the penultimate day. When he was in the premises, a middle aged man approached him and said, "Sir, I would very much like to show you a game played by my daughter today." Jacob was amused. He would usually get parents coming upto him and ask about improvement techniques, or which books to study or how to balance academics and chess! This was something different. He asked the man to show the game. Lokesh (that's the father's name) made the initial moves:

White has just played his queen to e2

Said Lokesh, "Sir, do you know what my daughter played here? She took on d4 with her queen and sacrificed his queen for two knights." Aagaard has seen many sacrifices in his life to know which ones are easy and which are truly special. This was one was the latter. He looked at the entire game and was thoroughly impressed. Later in the day, while I was chatting with Jacob, he mentioned about the game. "Tremendous queen sacrifice" was Jacob's assessment. Let's have a look at the entire game:

Sahithi is trained by her father who believes in classical form of education in chess. That's the reason why you can see some really great ideas and sacrifices in Sahithi's games. The girl if directed in a proper manner can become one of India's and world's finest players in the years to come.

A proud father with his daughter | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Om Kadam - gold under-10

Hailing from a humble background, Om Kadam is a pure case of talent overcoming financial difficulties to shine on the big stage! The boy is the current under-9 national champion and he proved his mettle by winning the gold at the Asian under-10 almost with a round to spare. He lost the last round, but 7.5 was a good score to win the yellow metal.

The under-10 Asian champion Om Kadam | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Speaking to his coach Sharad Tilak, the experienced IM said, "Om has a natural flair for handling the initiative and sharp tactical vision. Because of his young age he can be impulsive at times. He is highly talented and definitely a GM prospect."

There are two points about Om which highly impressed me when I saw him at the IIFLW 2018 in Mumbai. Firstly, the moment he got an advantage he would finish off his opponents in accurate style. His technique is fantastic. There were games against players like Divya Deshmukh where he was rated nearly 500 Elo points below them. But once he was better, he just played without any errors. This is quite rare in a ten-year-old boy. The second thing which I noticed was the tremendous dedication of his father, Manish Kadam. Manish came upto me one day and asked what was the best software for his son to take his game to the next level. I recommend the Combo of Mega Database + ChessBase 14. He immediately bought it. No questions asked. In spite of all the financial struggles the parent understood that investing in quality softwares was important for his son's progress and he did just that. It takes vision and courage to spend Rs.8250 in one go, but when it came to his child's progress there were no compromises!

Raja Rithvik gold under-14 boys

Raja Rithvik won the gold in the under-14 section | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

The name Raja Rithvik is becoming more and more popular. The boy from Telangana created a unique record in the year 2017. He won both the under-13 as well as under-17 national titles. Training with Raju, well-known for being Harika's coach, Rithvik is in safe hands. He comes across as a positional player who likes to put his pieces good squares. But when the time comes to calculate, he does that admirably as well. Have a look at the last round game where he positionally outplayed his opponent and then beat him by calculating all the tactical possibilities accurately.

Silver medal winners:

Anupam Sreekumar won the silver in the girls under-10 section. She is also the reigning under-9 national champion of India | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

A fresh face at the top Indian chess - Bristy Mukherjee. It is amazing that in a section (under-14) where we have Divya Deshmukh, Rakshitta Ravi, Mrudul Dehankar and other top players of Indian chess, Bristy was able to get the silver and finish at the highest Indian. | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Aashna Makhija from Mumbai has shown steady progress in the last three years. As on January 2015, her rating was 1605. In three years she had pumped it up to 2137 by August 2017. Definitely some systematic training and dedicated work has got her to this point. Silver in the under-16 section is one of the biggest successes in the girl's chess career till date. | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Silver medal in the under-16 section for Vatsal Singhania | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Vatsal Singhania, just like Aashna has shown great progress in terms of rating in the last couple of years. Just that his progress has been tremendous! Vatsal had a rating of 1769 in November 2016. Currently his rating is 2213 (including the 107 point increase at the Asian Youth). In fact Vatsal was well on track towards his gold with 6.0/7. However, he was able to score just 0.5/2 in the last two rounds and had to settle for the silver.

It was a big moment for Sri Lankan chess that their youngster Sasith Nipun Piyumantha became the Asian under-16 champion. This is perhaps in a very long time that Sri Lanka have been able to produce an Asian Champion! | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Bronze medal winners:

Watch out for this youngster Arjun Adireddy is a strong upcoming talent! Bronze in under-8 boys. | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Kushagra Mohan, won the bronze in the under-14 boys section | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Rajanya Datta - bronze in under-10 girls | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Nityata Jain brought happiness on the faces of MP chess fans as she won her first Asian medal - under-14 bronze | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

The Nagpur boy Sankalp Gupta has been showing stellar performances at many age category events. Bronze in under-16 adds to that tally. | Photo: Asian Youth Facebook page

Talking to ChessBase India, AICF Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said,"I am happy with the performance but expected better. I felt that we should have at least half of the gold medals in the classical section." Bharat Singh also added, "One of the key factor for India moving on the way of becoming a superpower is the government support. Their support has helped us to send already two major trips in 2018 - the Aeroflot Open and the Asian Youth."

A very exciting Asian Youth 2018 comes to an with a big success for the Indian contingent. What's heartening to see is talents cropping out from different parts of the country. We have kids from big cities as well as small towns. Each one has his own story to tell and ChessBase India will try its best to bring out the stories of these champions in more detail. As of now a big thanks to the coaches: TJ Suresh Kumar, Arvind Shastry, Vishal Sareen and J.E.Kavitha, the arbiters who made every kid feel at home and the organizing committee led by Sahapol Nakhnavich.

Results of all Indians in classical section:

SNo		Name	RtgI	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Rk.	K	rtg+/-	Group
3		Adireddy Arjun	1506	IND	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	½	1	6,5	3	40	-24,80	U8
8		Mitul K H	1341	IND	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	½	5,5	15	40	-40,80	U8
9		Sadbhav Rautela	1319	IND	1	1	0	1	1	½	0	1	1	6,5	4	40	10,00	U8
13		Jain Kushagra	1249	IND	1	0	1	0	0	1	½	1	0	4,5	26	40	-26,40	U8
16		Mrinmoy Rajkhowa	1224	IND	½	1	½	½	0	0	1	0	1	4,5	33	40	-25,60	U8
19		Shashank V S	1150	IND	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	4,0	35	40	3,60	U8
22		Lakshyesh Mohan Gupta	1123	IND	1	½	½	1	0	0	1	0	1	5,0	22	40	35,60	U8
23		Jaivardhan Raj	1119	IND	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	½	1	4,5	31	40	-7,20	U8
24		Rosh Jain	1112	IND	1	0	½	1	0	0	1	0	½	4,0	37	40	14,00	U8
25		Shashindhar Kumar R	1081	IND	1	0	½	1	0	1	1	0	1	5,5	14	40	116,40	U8
30		Jivitesh Singh Sethi	1003	IND	0	1	0	1	0	1	½	1	0	4,5	27	40	19,20	U8
35		Divitt Arora	0	IND	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	5,0	21	0	0,00	U8
37		Ishaan Singh Khanuja	0	IND	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	4,0	36	0	0,00	U8
40		Karthik G Iyer	0	IND	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	3,0	51	0	0,00	U8
5		Kadam Om Manish	1788	IND	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	0	7,5	1	40	55,60	U10
12		Ilamparthi A R	1596	IND	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	½	0	5,5	13	40	-28,40	U10
21		Viswak Sen M	1430	IND	½	1	0	1	½	1	½	½	½	5,5	19	40	78,80	U10
22		Namish Sharma	1417	IND	1	0	1	½	0	1	0	0	0	3,5	53	40	-41,20	U10
24		Swayham P Das	1415	IND	½	1	½	1	1	0	0	1	½	5,5	17	40	60,40	U10
25		Kapoor Satvik	1414	IND	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	½	½	5,0	24	40	0,00	U10
27		Bagwe Gaurang	1392	IND	1	0	0	1	1	½	1	½	½	5,5	18	40	36,80	U10
29		John Veny Akkarakaran	1384	IND	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	5,0	21	40	42,80	U10
46		Vaibhav Kalpaka	1146	IND	0	1	0	1	0	½	1	½	½	4,5	39	40	40,40	U10
48		Rajveer Pinkesh Nahar	1097	IND	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	4,0	45	40	6,00	U10
51		Rathi Anay Anup	1027	IND	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0,0	72	40	0,00	U10
64		Pranav K	0	IND	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	½	1	3,5	56	0	0,00	U10
1	CM	Gukesh D	2401	IND	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	8,0	1	10	0,90	U12
4		Pranesh M	2025	IND	1	1	0	1	0	1	½	0	1	5,5	14	40	-88,40	U12
10	CM	Tanmay Jain	1804	IND	1	½	1	0	0	0	1	½	½	4,5	43	40	-125,20	U12
21		Aditya Bikram Paul	1641	IND	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	5,0	22	40	10,80	U12
23		Bhavik Ahuja	1592	IND	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0,0	74	40	0,00	U12
33		Adireddy Tarun	1476	IND	1	½	0	1	1	0	½	1	0	5,0	25	40	14,00	U12
2	FM	Raja Rithvik R	2280	IND	1	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	7,5	1	20	-3,00	U14
3	CM	Kushagra Mohan	2276	IND	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	½	½	7,0	3	40	-20,00	U14
4	CM	Rohith Krishna S	2080	IND	1	1	½	1	½	½	0	1	½	6,0	11	40	-4,40	U14
9		Srihari L R	1967	IND	1	½	1	1	0	1	½	½	½	6,0	10	40	13,60	U14
34		Kaushik G Iyer	1586	IND	½	0	½	1	1	0	½	1	1	5,5	18	40	44,40	U14
51		Aryan Anand	1290	IND	0	1	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	3,5	60	40	49,20	U14
1		Koustav Chatterjee	2381	IND	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	6,0	4	20	-17,00	U16
2		Sankalp Gupta	2374	IND	1	½	1	½	0	1	1	1	½	6,5	3	20	-15,60	U16
4		Raahul V S	2258	IND	1	1	½	½	0	½	0	1	1	5,5	9	20	-29,40	U16
10		Vatsal Singhania	2106	IND	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	0	½	6,5	2	40	107,60	U16
23	AIM	Komal Srivatsav Sajja	1650	IND	0	½	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	4,5	16	40	62,80	U16
3	FM	Mitrabha Guha	2366	IND	1	½	1	0	1	½	½	0	1	5,5	7	20	-19,20	U18
8	FM	Jeet Jain	2232	IND	½	½	1	1	0	1	½	½	0	5,0	13	20	-18,80	U18
17		Manish Anto Cristiano F	1926	IND	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	4,0	20	40	-16,00	U18
7		Kukreja Suguna	1106	IND	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	½	3,5	28	40	-2,00	G8
8		Sri Harini A	1105	IND	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	4,0	22	40	6,80	G8
10		Hatvalne Swarali	1072	IND	1	0	1	0	0	1	½	1	0	4,5	18	40	-33,20	G8
12		Shreya G Hipparagi	1061	IND	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	½	5,5	9	40	38,80	G8
13		Saara Jain	1030	IND	½	1	0	1	0	0	½	1	1	5,0	17	40	-12,00	G8
14		Arshiya Das	1022	IND	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	5,0	14	40	4,80	G8
15	WCM	Shriyana S Mallya	1005	IND	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	5,0	13	40	-30,80	G8
17		Amaira Mittal	0	IND	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	4,0	23	0	0,00	G8
18		Anaishaa Pinkesh Nahar	0	IND	0	0	0	1	0	1	½	1	1	4,5	19	0	0,00	G8
27		Priyansha Shetty M P	0	IND	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1,0	36	0	0,00	G8
32		Sahana Mathivanan	0	IND	1	0	0	0	0	½	1	0	1	3,5	29	0	0,00	G8
33		Shriya Patil	0	IND	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	½	3,5	27	0	0,00	G8
35		Tanishka Jain	0	IND	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	½	2,5	33	0	0,00	G8
5		Rajanya Datta	1373	IND	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	½	6,5	3	40	34,40	G10
7		Anupam M Sreekumar	1343	IND	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7,0	2	40	42,00	G10
10		Rout Yashita	1318	IND	1	½	1	½	0	1	½	½	0	5,0	20	40	16,40	G10
12	WCM	Shefali A N	1274	IND	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	4,0	29	40	-32,00	G10
16		Pragnya H G	1213	IND	1	0	1	1	½	½	1	1	½	6,5	4	40	54,80	G10
19		Rianna Netta B	1168	IND	1	0	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	6,0	9	40	26,00	G10
21		Falak Joni Naik	1086	IND	1	½	0	½	½	1	0	1	0	4,5	24	40	-5,60	G10
22		Jaanvi D	1061	IND	1	0	0	1	0	1	½	0	0	3,5	32	40	22,40	G10
4		Sagar Siya	1697	IND	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	½	4,5	21	40	-119,60	G12
8		Savitha Shri B	1615	IND	1	1	1	0	1	½	1	½	0	6,0	8	40	22,80	G12
9	WCM	Sahithi Varshini M	1573	IND	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	7,0	1	40	-2,40	G12
10	WCM	Vishwa Vasnawala	1558	IND	1	1	½	1	½	½	0	1	1	6,5	4	40	59,60	G12
11		Velpula Sarayu	1541	IND	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	6,0	5	40	58,40	G12
15		Boramanikar Tanisha S	1483	IND	1	1	1	1	0	½	½	0	0	5,0	15	40	30,40	G12
23		Shivika Rohilla	1384	IND	1	1	½	0	1	0	1	1	½	6,0	11	40	110,00	G12
24	WCM	Patel Riddhi R	1376	IND	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	½	1	4,5	24	40	-46,80	G12
26		Mahi Amit Doshi	1351	IND	0	1	1	0	0	½	1	0	0	3,5	34	40	-6,00	G12
28		Yash Jyoti Bir	1338	IND	0	1	½	½	1	1	0	0	1	5,0	16	40	50,80	G12
31		Shah Kritee	1302	IND	0	1	1	1	½	1	0	0	0	4,5	19	40	62,80	G12
33		Anya Seth Syed	1289	IND	0	1	½	½	0	1	0	0	1	4,0	32	40	-6,00	G12
42		Sachika Tomer	0	IND	0	0	1	½	0	0	1	0	1	3,5	37	0	0,00	G12
1		Rakshitta Ravi	2270	IND	0	1	0	1	½	½	1	½	½	5,0	19	40	-126,80	G14
2	WFM	Divya Deshmukh	2220	IND	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	6,0	4	40	-82,00	G14
5	WCM	Mrudul Dehankar	2022	IND	1	1	0	0	1	1	½	½	1	6,0	5	40	-1,20	G14
8		Jain Nityata	1894	IND	1	1	1	0	1	½	½	½	1	6,5	3	40	67,20	G14
9	WCM	Jyothsna L	1847	IND	1	½	1	½	1	½	1	0	0	5,5	10	40	17,20	G14
16		Bristy Mukherjee	1720	IND	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	½	6,5	2	40	94,40	G14
17	WFM	Dhyana Patel	1713	IND	1	0	1	½	0	1	½	½	1	5,5	11	40	38,80	G14
40		Pranitha S R	1196	IND	0	0	½	1	1	0	0	½	0	3,0	38	40	46,00	G14
1	WFM	Salonika Saina	2182	IND	1	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	6,5	4	40	-34,80	G16
4		Makhija Aashna	2083	IND	1	0	1	1	1	½	½	1	½	6,5	2	40	0,80	G16
6		Sanskriti Goyal	1943	IND	1	1	½	½	1	0	0	0	1	5,0	12	40	-45,20	G16
12		Tejasvi M	1754	IND	½	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	½	5,0	15	40	-33,60	G16
23		Sanjana Raghunath	1472	IND	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	4,0	21	40	1,60	G16
30		Anaidaa Santosh	1150	IND	½	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	½	4,0	25	40	54,40	G16
1	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	2333	IND	1	1	1	½	1	0	1	0	½	6,0	5	20	-36,00	G18
2	WFM	Arpita Mukherjee	2151	IND	1	1	1	½	½	½	½	0	½	5,5	12	40	-35,60	G18
3	WIM	Tejaswini Sagar	2146	IND	½	1	½	½	½	0	1	0	0	4,0	26	20	-56,60	G18
4	WFM	Tarini Goyal	2088	IND	½	½	1	1	0	½	½	½	0	4,5	21	40	-106,80	G18
6		Priyanka K	2057	IND	1	1	0	1	0	1	½	1	½	6,0	6	40	-1,60	G18
25		Kavisha S Shah	1702	IND	0	1	0	1	1	0	½	½	1	5,0	14	40	21,20	G18
29		Niharika Ch	1624	IND	0	0	1	1	0	½	0	1	0	3,5	31	40	-3,60	G18
37		Shrinidhi N	1022	IND	1	0	0	0	0	½	½	1	0	3,0	35	40	26,00	G18

Classical final results:

Gold:

Kadam Om Manish 7.5/9 - Under 10 Boys

CM Gukesh D 8.0/9 - Under 12 Boys

WCM Sahithi Varshini M 7.0/9 - Under 12 Girls

FM Raja Rithvik R 7.5/9 - Under 14 Boys

Silver:

Anupam M Sreekumar 7.0/9 - Under 10 Girls

Bristy Mukherjee 6.5/9 - Under 14 Girls

Vatsal Singhania 6.5/9 - Under 16 Boys

Aashna Makhija 6.5/9 - Under 16 Girls

Bronze:

Adireddy Arjun 6.5/9 - Under 8 Boys

Rajanya Datta 6.5/9 - Under 10 Girls

CM Kushagra Mohan 7.0/9 - Under 14 Boys

Nityata Jain 6.5/9 - Under 14 Girls

Sankalp Gupta 6.5/9 - Under 16 Boys

Rapid final results:

Gold:

Adireddy Arjun (under-8)

Gukesh (under-12)

Sahithi Varsini (under-12)

Mrudul Dehankar (under-14)

Saina Salonika (under-16 girls)

Arpita Mukherjee (under-18 girls)

Silver:

Savitha Shree - (under-12 girls)

LR Srihari (under-14)

Koustav Chatterjee (under-16)

Bronze:

Mitrabha Guha (under-18)

Blitz final results:

Gold:

Gukesh D 8.5/9 - under 12

Raja Rithvik 8.0/9 - under 14

Divya Deshmukh 9.0/9 - under-14

Mitrabha Guha 7.0/9 under 18

Silver:

Srihari L.R 7.0/9 - under 14

Mrudul Dehankar 7.5/9 - under 14 girls

Sanskriti Goyal 6.5/9 - under 16 girls

Bronze:

Sahithi Varshini 7.0/9 - under 12 girls

Jyotsna L 6.5/9 - under-14 girls

Raahul V S 6.5/9 - under 16

India's performance last year. Note: there were no team medals last year and hence India won 26 medals. This year India won 33 and bettered their last years performance!