India wins five medals at Western Asian Junior Chess Championships 2023

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/12/2023

India has won a total of five medals including two Gold, one Silver and two Bronze medals at Western Asian Junior Chess Championships 2023. Two former Asian Junior Open champions - IM Harshavardhan G B and IM Raahul V S shined brightly. Harshavardhan won Gold in Rapid Open scoring 5.5/7 and Silver in Classical Open 6.5/9. Raahul earned Gold in Blitz Open with a perfect score of 7/7. In the Girls event, Rindhiya V scored 6/9 to win Bronze in the Classical event. WFM Bhagyashree Patil received Bronze in Blitz scoring 5.5/7. Photos: Chess Federation of Sri Lanka

Harshavardhan wins Gold and Silver, Raahul V S Gold; Bronze for Rindhiya and Bhagyashree among Girls

Asian Junior 2021 Open Gold medalist - IM Raahul V S and Asian Junior 2022 Open Gold medalist - IM Harshavardhan G B won two Gold and a Silver at Western Asian Junior 2023 Open in Classical, Rapid and Blitz formats.

IM Raahul V S and IM Harshavardhan G B won two Gold and one Silver among them

Classical: Open - Silver

IM Thilakarathne G M H (SRI, 2389), IM Harshavardhan G B (2390) and IM L M S T De Silva (SRI, 2394) scored 6.5/9. Thilakarathne beat both Harshavardhan and De Silva. Thus, he won the Gold. Harshavardhan and De Silva won Silver and Bronze respectively.

Gold in Classical Open - IM Thilakarathne G M H (SRI) 6.5/9

Silver in Classical Open - IM Harshavardhan G B 6.5/9

Bronze in Classical Open - IM L M S T De Silva (SRI) 6.5/9

Top 3 in Classical Open - 3rd IM L M S T De Silva (SRI) 6.5/9, 2nd IM Thilakarathne G M H (SRI) 6.5/9 and 2nd IM Harshavardhan G B 6.5/9

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	4	IM	Thilakarathne, G M H	SRI	2389	6,5	2	40,5	45,5	5
2	3	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2390	6,5	0,5	42	46,5	5
3	2	IM	De Silva, L M S T	SRI	2394	6,5	0,5	40,5	44,5	5

Details

Classical: Girls - Bronze

Top seed of the event, WIM Zeinep Sultanbek (KAZ, 2008) scored an unbeaten 7/9 to clinch the Gold. She finished a half point ahead of the field. 10-year-old Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana (SRI, 1741) scored 6.5/9 to secure the Silver medal. Third seeded, Rindhiya V (1876) scored 6/9 and won the Bronze due to better tie-break score.

Gold in Classical Girls - WIM Zeinep Sultanbek (KAZ) 7/9

Silver in Classical Girls - Devindya Oshini Gunawaradhana (SRI) 6.5/9

Bronze in Classical Girls - Rindhiya V 6/9

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	1	WIM	Sultanbek, Zeinep	KAZ	2008	7	38,5	43
2	9		Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini	SRI	1741	6,5	39,5	43,5
3	3		Rindhiya, V	IND	1876	6	41,5	46,5

Details

Rapid: Open - Gold

Four players - IM Harshavardhan G B (2319), Vepaly Halynyazow (TKM, 1910), IM L M S T De Silva (SRI, 2403) and Alisher Mazhkenov (KAZ, 1994) scored 5.5/7 each. They secured first, second, third and fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. Both Harshavardhan and Vepaly remained undefeated.

Gold in Rapid Open - IM Harshavardhan G B 5.5/7

Silver in Rapid Open - Vepaly Halynyazow (TKM) 5.5/7

Bronze in Rapid Open - IM L M S T De Silva (SRI) 5.5/7

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	2	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2319	5,5	24	27,5	4
2	9		Halynyazow, Vepaly	TKM	1910	5,5	24	27	4
3	1	IM	De Silva, L M S T	SRI	2403	5,5	21	23,5	5

Details

Blitz: Open - Gold

IM Raahul V S (2286) scored a perfect 7/7 to clinch the Gold. He completely decimated the field and finished a staggering 1.5 points ahead of the field. FM Manon Reja Neer (BAN) 5.5/7 and IM Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage (SRI, 2198) scored 5.5/7 each. They secure Silver and Bronze according to tie-breaks.

Gold in Blitz Open - IM Raahul V S 7/7

Silver in Blitz Open - FM Manon Reja Neer 5.5/7

Bronze in Blitz Open - FM Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage (SRI) 5.5/7

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	3	IM	Raahul, V S	IND	2286	7	0	24,5	28,5	7
2	9	FM	Manon, Reja Neer	BAN	1902	5,5	0,5	26,5	30,5	5
3	6	FM	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan	SRI	2198	5,5	0,5	25	29	5

Details

Girls - Bronze

WIM Zeinep Sultanbek (KAZ) scored an unbeaten 6.5/7 to clinch the Gold. She finished a half point ahead of the field and defeated both remaining medal winners. WFM Lala Shohradova (TKM) scored sole 6/7 to secure the Silver. WFM Bhagyashree Patil made sole 5.5/7 to win the Bronze medal.

Gold in Blitz Girls - WIM Zeinep Sultanbek (KAZ) 6.5/7

Silver in Blitz Girls - WFM Lala Shohradova (TKM) 6/7

Bronze in Blitz Girls - WFM Bhagyashree Patil 5.5/7

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	1	WIM	Sultanbek, Zeinep	KAZ	2025	6,5	26	29,5	6
2	2	WFM	Shohradova, Lala	TKM	1983	6	26	30	6
3	3	WFM	Bhagyashree, Patil	IND	1978	5,5	24,5	28,5	5

Details

Links

Chess Federation of Sri Lanka: fb page

Tournament Regulations