GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India and IM Lin Chen of China beat their respective opponents to share the lead with 4.5 points each after 5 rounds of the Asian Continental Chess Championships 2015 at the Hilton Hotel**** in Al Ain, UAE. The stage is set for the showdown between two leaders.
Tournament website/ LIVE games (men)/ LIVE games (women)/ Youtube/ Facebook/ Instagram
Chinese IM Chen Lin maintains the lead
Lin, 27-year-old from Jiangsu, China, made short work of GM Vishnu Prasanna of India in just 33 moves of a Closed Ruy Lopez. Lin gained a protected passed pawn on the 28th move which he quickly advanced with the aid of a centralized Queen and control of the open Rook file.
Ganguly, 36, crushed the Gruenfeld Defense of GM Darini Pouria of Iran in 49 moves. The 6-time Indian national champion used his advantage of two Bishops to gain a pawn and transpose to a minor piece endgame which he won with flawless technique.
WGM Medina Warda Aulia from Indonesia takes a sole lead
In the women`s division, 18-year-old WGM Medina Warda Aulia of Indonesia (right) outplayed WGM Padmini Rout of India to grab solo lead with 4.5 points out of 5 rounds. Aulia, a first year Public Administration student at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, used the French Defense that led to a fierce fight of attack and counter attack. A Rook sacrifice in the endgame ensured safe pawn promotion by Aulia and Rout resigned on the 77th move.
Four players trail a half point behind Aulia. Tied at 4 points each are WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan and WIM Mitra Hejazipour of Iran and WGM Vijayalakshmi Subaramman of India and WGM Lei Tingjie of China.
In the men`s division, top seed GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, GM Abhijeet Gupta of India and GM Rustam Khusnutdinov of Kazakhstan are a half point behind the leaders with 4 points each. Le used the Sicilian Scheveningen against GM Idani Pouya of Iran to win in 60 moves. Gupta smashed the Tarrash Defense of GM Jahongir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan in 53 moves. Khusnutdinov routed the Caro Kann Defense of GM Lalith Babu of India in 34 moves, penetrating with his Rook on the seventh rank.
Ten players are a point behind the leaders in the race for the top 5 qualifying slots to the World Cup and $87,000 in cash prizes. Tied with 3.5 points each are local hero GM Salem A.R. Saleh, Vishnu Prasanna and Indian GMs S.P. Sehturaman, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Deep Sengupta, Darini Pouria, Chinese IM Wang Chen, GM Gao Rui and GM Zhou Jianchao and Vietnamese GM Nguyen Duc Hoa.
In the round 5 game between GM Salem A.R. Saleh of the UAE with the Black pieces and untitled Liu Chang of China, the Emirati gave his Knight for the center pawn 21…Ncxe4! (diagram) starting an attack that continued with a double Rook sacrifice 22. Bxe4 Bc5 23. Nxc6 Nxe4 24. Nxd8 Bf3 25. h4 Qg4 26. Kh2 Ng5 27. Rxe8+ Bf8 28. Rxf8+ Kxf8 29. Ne6+ fxe6 0-1
The event is organized by the Asian Chess Federation in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and UAE Chess Federation. Six tournaments are scheduled with a top prize of $11,000 for first place in the Men`s and $6,000 first prize in the women`s championship. Rapid chess and blitz tournaments are scheduled in both the men divisions with a total of $12,000 in cash prizes. Tournaments will be conducted as 9 round Swiss System events.
The top five advance to the World Cup next month in Baku, Azerbaijan. The women’s champion shall represent Asia in the FIDE Women`s World Championship.
Men’s Tournament standings after Round 5:
1 IM Lin Chen CHN 2494 4,5
2 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2631 4,5
3 GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2699 4
4 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2619 4
5 GM Khusnutdinov Rustam KAZ 2510 4
6 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2635 3,5
7 GM Darini Pouria IRI 2501 3,5
8 GM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2502 3,5
9 GM Nguyen Duc Hoa VIE 2500 3,5
10 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2595 3,5
11 IM Wang Chen CHN 2524 3,5
12 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2644 3,5
13 GM Gao Rui CHN 2528 3,5
14 GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2600 3,5
15 GM Sengupta Deep IND 2594 3,5
16 GM Vakhidov Jahongir UZB 2525 3
17 GM Lalith Babu M.R. IND 2570 3
18 GM Hossain Enamul BAN 2436 3
19 IM Lou Yiping CHN 2454 3
20 GM Kostenko Petr KAZ 2431 3
21 IM Karthikeyan P. IND 2426 3
22 FM Abdulwahhab Ahmed Abdulsattar IRQ 2297 3
23 GM Kunte Abhijit IND 2493 3
24 GM Idani Pouya IRI 2568 3
25 GM Sandipan Chanda IND 2585 3
26 GM Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan MGL 2492 3
27 GM Dzhumaev Marat UZB 2493 3
28 IM Tabatabaei M.Amin IRI 2458 3
29 IM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan IND 2481 3
30 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2585 3
31 GM Zhang Zhong SIN 2628 3
32 GM Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy VIE 2496 3
33 GM Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib BAN 2473 3
34 Xu Yinglun CHN 2463 3
35 Utegaliyev Azamat KAZ 2469 3
36 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2640 3
37 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2662 3
38 GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2509 3
39 Yuan Qingyu CHN 2359 2,5
40 Liu Chang CHN 2353 2,5
41 Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2416 2,5
42 FM Li Di CHN 2384 2,5
43 FM Tologontegin Semetey KGZ 2390 2,5
44 GM Batchuluun Tsegmed MGL 2485 2,5
45 GM Rahman Ziaur BAN 2509 2,5
46 GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan IRI 2609 2,5
47 GM Debashis Das IND 2489 2,5
48 IM Saiyn Zhanat KAZ 2404 2,5
49 GM Gopal G.N. IND 2562 2,5
50 IM Chu Wei Chao CHN 2318 2
51 CM Alattar Rakan JOR 2012 2
52 FM Saeed Ishaq UAE 2252 2
53 FM Bayarmandakh Balgan MGL 2225 2
54 Mamyrbay Assad KAZ 2217 2
55 IM Isaev Jamshed TJK 2300 2
56 GM Sharavdorj Dashzegve MGL 2423 2
57 IM Rathnakaran K. IND 2417 2
58 IM Wang Yiye CHN 2439 2
59 IM Nitin S. IND 2404 2
60 IM Asgarizadeh Ahmad IRI 2407 2
61 FM Salih Akar Ali Salih IRQ 2359 2
62 IM Pascua Haridas PHI 2447 2
63 FM Xu Yi CHN 2365 2
64 IM Nezad Husein Aziz QAT 2404 2
65 Xu Xiangyu CHN 2257 2
66 CM Shrestha Keshav NEP 2118 2
67 IM Abdyjapar Asyl KGZ 2392 1,5
68 IM Iyti Basher SYR 2305 1,5
69 FM Ayyad Maher BRN 2122 1,5
70 IM Baimurzin Aitkazy KAZ 2096 1,5
71 CM Al-Hajiri Bader KUW 2238 1,5
72 IM Lodhi Mahmood PAK 2310 1,5
73 FM Galappaththi Chinthaka Anurud SRI 2066 1,5
74 Al Houti Houd OMA 0 1,5
75 GM Venkatesh M.R. IND 2484 1,5
76 FM Byambaa Zulzaga MGL 2258 1,5
77 Asgharzadeh M.Reza IRI 2276 1
78 Bahaa M.T. Maswada PLE 1855 1
79 Sulimani Yaser KSA 1760 1
80 FM Hj Azahari Md Aliuddin BRU 2024 1
81 Nassar Marwan LIB 2030 1
82 Bukhari Mohameed KSA 1737 1
83 Ezizov Jumamuhammet TKM 1789 0,5
Women’s Tournament standings after Round 5:
1 WGM Aulia Medina Warda INA 2412 4,5
2 WGM Lei Tingjie CHN 2436 4
3 WIM Hejazipour Mitra IRI 2321 4
4 IM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman IND 2341 4
5 WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa IRI 2341 4
6 WIM Pratyusha Bodda IND 2194 3,5
7 WGM Tan Zhongyi CHN 2512 3,5
8 WIM Davletbayeva Madina KAZ 2243 3,5
9 WGM Gomes Mary Ann IND 2314 3,5
10 IM Shen Yang CHN 2443 3,5
11 WGM Saduakassova Dinara KAZ 2401 3,5
12 WGM Wang Jue CHN 2360 3,5
13 IM Li Ruofan SIN 2374 3,5
14 IM Padmini Rout IND 2444 3
15 WIM Shamima Akter Liza BAN 2155 3
16 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti IND 2262 3
17 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2325 3
18 Hakimifard Raana IRI 2084 3
19 WIM Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz UZB 2264 3
20 IM Karavade Eesha IND 2409 3
21 WIM Zhai Mo CHN 2406 3
22 WGM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung VIE 2227 3
23 WGM Zhang Xiaowen CHN 2376 3
24 IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat IRI 2412 3
25 WFM Asgarizadeh Minoo IRI 2180 3
26 Khalaji Hanieh IRI 1965 2,5
27 WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An VIE 2219 2,5
28 WIM Dauletova Gulmira KAZ 2278 2,5
29 IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen VIE 2332 2,5
30 WIM Hakimifard Ghazal IRI 2219 2,5
31 IM Tania Sachdev IND 2390 2,5
32 Chu Ruotong CHN 2048 2,5
33 WGM Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii MGL 2269 2,5
34 IM Mohota Nisha IND 2259 2,5
35 Hong Xing CHN 1882 2
36 WFM Alattar Ghayda M. JOR 1913 2
37 WIM Al-Rufaye Iman Hasan Mohammed IRQ 2088 2
38 WIM Le Kieu Thien Kim VIE 2226 2
39 Liu Manli CHN 1995 2
40 WIM Nouman Amna UAE 1935 2
41 Mir Mahmoud Afamia SYR 1949 2
42 WIM Ankhchimeg Bayanmunkh MGL 2180 2
43 WGM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan KAZ 2327 2
44 WFM Hj Azahari Siti Nur Fatimah BRU 2073 2
45 WIM Otgonjargal Sengeravdan MGL 2213 1,5
46 WFM Li Yunshan CHN 1835 1,5
47 WFM Antonova Nadezhda TJK 2011 1,5
48 Alymbay Kyzy Aizhan KGZ 1903 1,5
49 WCM Al Maamari Wafia Darwish UAE 1500 1,5
50 WFM Boshra Alshaeby JOR 1987 1,5
51 Aseel Odeh JOR 1588 1,5
52 WFM Al Dhaffari Salma UAE 1655 1
53 WIM Al-Zarouni Kholoud Essa UAE 1840 1
54 WCM Ezizova Bagul TKM 1518 1
55 Faqeeh Aseel JM PLE 1599 1
56 WIM Al-Harmoudi Mona UAE 1745 1
57 WIM Algildah Nibal SYR 1920 0,5
