Poh Yu Tian clinches 19th IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2024, Kushagra Mohan second

by Peter Long - 09/10/2024

IM Poh Yu Tian (MAS) scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win 19th IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Open Chess Championship 2024 part of Malaysian Chess Festival. IM Kushagra Mohan scored sole 7/9 to secure second place. Four players - GM Laylo Darwin (PHI), Sunle Gong (CHN), FM Stephen Rome Pangilinan (PHI) and FM Nguyen Quoc Hy (VIE) scored 6.5/9 each. They secured third to sixth place respectively according to tie-breaks. WGM Mary Ann Gomes and GM Deepan Chakravarthy are the only two other Indians to make a top ten finish. They scored 6/9 each to finish at eighth and ninth place respectively. Mary also won the Best Woman prize. Photo: Andrew Ooi Boon Seng

Poh Yu becomes the first Malaysian and youngest champion of the tournament

IM Poh Yu Tian, rated 2430, has been the standout young talent in Malaysian in the last few years with IM norm performances in every tournament, and it is fitting that he, at the age of 15, has made history but not only being the youngest champion but also the first Malaysian to win the IGB Malaysian Open Chess Championship.

Champion - IM Poh Yu Tian (MAS) 7.5/9 | Photo: Andrew Ooi Boon Seng

Poh Yu Tian received the prize from - Tan Lei Cheng.

While certainly not the strength of the field in previous years thanks to the unavoidable date clash with the Budapest Olympiad, this was still big news and of pride to Malaysians coming after winning the Rapid Teams for the first time in the curtain raiser for the Malaysian Chess Festival.

Runner-up - IM Kushagra Mohan 7/9 | Photo: Andrew Ooi Boon Seng

Yu Tian also has already many Grandmaster scalps and has proven to be also difficult to beat and was even the top seed and a clear favourite to win but the presence of veteran GMs Deepan Chakravarty, Nguyen Duc Hoa, and Darwin Laylo, all in their time serial tournament winners, did not guarantee as easy path.

After four successive wins to take the lead, including one against unfortunate serial COVID-19 victim IM Liu Xiangyi, the newly minted IM from becoming champion at the East Asian Youth Championships held earlier this year in his hometown Penang, was suddenly stuck in a succession of draws.

He uncharacteristically could not convert an endgame advantage in round five against Duc Hua who had over pressed, and then it was the same result in round six and seven against IM Kushagra Mohan and GM Laylo Darwin (PHI) respectively.

But then his last two opponents, FMs Chan Kim Yew (MAS) and Stephen Rome Pangilinan (PHI), both fine, young and experienced players were not at his level and as his rivals faltered, his final score of 7.5/9 was enough to take sole first place, Kushagra alone in second with 7/9, and in third to sixth places on 6.5/9 were, Laylo, young Chinese Surie Gong who also won the U-16 prize, Panglinan, and FM Nguyen Quoc Hy.

IM Poh Yu Tian (MAS) | Photo: Andrew Ooi Boon Seng

Age is unforgiving with one's prime, and the veterans all ran out of stream, Duc Hoa, Mary Ann Gomes (Best Woman prize), Deepan, Albert Winkelman, and S Nitin with 6/9 rounded up the top ten.

Final standings in Open

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	K	rtg+/-
1	1	IM	Poh, Yu Tian	U16		MAS	2430	7,5	0	48	52,5	42,75	39	10	14
2	2	IM	Kushagra, Mohan			IND	2411	7	0	47,5	51,5	38,50	34	10	6,4
3	5	GM	Laylo, Darwin			PHI	2397	6,5	0	50,5	54,5	38,00	35	10	5,4
4	24		Gong, Sunle	U16		CHN	2226	6,5	0	45,5	49	33,50	33	40	111,6
5	28	FM	Pangilinan, Stephen Rome			PHI	2174	6,5	0	43,5	46,5	30,75	33	20	47,8
6	17	FM	Nguyen, Quoc Hy			VIE	2302	6,5	0	41	44,5	31,25	34	20	30,4
7	12	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa			VIE	2343	6	0	47	51,5	31,50	35	10	5,1
8	18	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann		w	IND	2298	6	0	46,5	51	32,00	32	10	5,3
9	3	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.			IND	2408	6	0	46	50	32,25	32	10	-2,2
10	22	FM	Winkelman, Albert			AUS	2251	6	0	44	48	30,00	30	20	26,8

Details

Links

Malaysian Chess Festival: Official site, fb page

Organizer's site

About the Author

One Night in Bangkok! Peter Long, FM, IA and FT, no longer Secretary of the FIDE Trainers’ Commission

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