Chess-in-Malaysia: Battle Royale of Top Seeds China, India

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Battle Royale of Top Seeds China, India

20 May 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the latest news of the Asian Nations Cup from Casto Abundo in China.

Battle Royale of Top Seeds China, India is a Draw

The top two seeds China 1 and India played to a 2:2 draw to set the pace after 3 rounds of the Asian Nations Cup in Zaozhuang, China. Tied for the lead are Iran and China 2 men.

In the Women’s, China 1 beat China 2 by 3:1 to grab solo lead of the round robin tournament.

In an all-GM battle, Wang Hao beat Krishnan Sasikiran and Ding Liren beat Parimarjan Negi to score for China. But Hari Krishna Pentala beat GM Wang Yue and Abhijeet Gupta beat Yu Yangyi to even the score for India.

Vietnam led by GM Le Quang Liem (right) vs. China 2 led by GM Zhou Weiqi

China 2 edged Vietnam 2½-1½. Games were drawn on boards 1 to 3 but GM Wen Yang scored the winning point against IM Nguyen Van Huy.

Mongolia led by IM Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan (right) vs. Iran led by GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami

Iran also narrowly beat Mongolia 2½-1½. The winning point was scored by IM Puria Darini over FM Munkhgal Gombosuren.

Singapore shocked Indonesia 3:1 on wins by IM Kevin Goh and IM Chan Peng Kong. Kazakhstan crushed Yemen 3½:½, Iraq blanked Chinese Taipei 4:0 while Korea shut out Hong Kong 4:0

China Women-2 led by WGM Tan Zhongyi (right) vs. China Women-1 led by GM Zhao Xue

Kazakhstan led by WGM Flyura Khasanova (right) vs. young China Women's 3 led by WFM Zhai Mo.

Mongolian Women led by Batchimeg Tuvshintugs (right) vs. Singapore led by WIM Khegay Anjela

In other matches in the women’s section, the young China Women-3 team surprised Kazakhstan 3:1. India kept pace by beating Vietnam 3:1. Mongolia also beat Singapore 3:1 and Indonesia and Iran drew 2:2. Reigning Asian Woman Champion Irene Sukandar of Indonesia beat former Woman Champion Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran.

Four teams are tied for the lead in the Men’s. China 1 and 2, India and Iran have 5 Match Points each. Singapore and Iran follow with 4 points each. Vietnam and Mongolia have 3 points each. Indonesia, Korea, Yemen and Iraq have 2 points each. Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei are still scoreless .

In the Women’s, China 1 leads alone with 6 Match Points. Iran is in second slot with 5 points. India and China 3 follow with 4 points each. Mongolia has 3 points. Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and China 2 are tied with 2 points each. Singapore women are still scoreless.