2009 Asian Youth Chess Championships

India wins 23 of 26 medals. Wow! Story from the Press Trust of India Indians sweep Asian Youth Chess C'ship STAFF WRITER 18:25 HRS IST New Delhi, Aug 8 (PTI) Indians swept the Asian Youth Chess Championships, clinching eight gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals here today. The Indians took home 23 of the 26 medals at stake in the event which was held at Tivoli Garden Resort. K Priyadharshan (Open Under-16), Shiven Khosla (Open Under-14), Diptayan Ghosh (Open Under-12), Mitrabha Guha (Open Under-8), Saranya J (Girls' Under-14), Srija Seshadri, Monnisha GK (Girls' Under-12) and Khushi Dharewa (Girls' Under-8) were the gold medallists for India. Shyam Nikil (Open Under-18), Harshal Shahi (Open Under-10), Aryan Chopra (Open Under-8), Pon N Krithika (Girls Under-18), Rucha Pujari (Girls Under-16), Ivana Maria Furtado (Girls' Under-10) and Arpita Mukherjee (Girls' Under-8) won silver medals. In the girls' Under-12 section, India's Srija Seshadri and Monnisha jointly won the title while in both sections of Under-8 India swept all the medals.

2009 Asian Youth Chess Championships

Interim rankings. G-U18 (after 6 rounds): 1 WFM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan KAZ 2172 5,0 2 CM Bhakti Kulkarni IND 2203 5,0 3 WFM Pon Nkrithika IND 2208 4,0 4 Tokhirjanova Hulkar UZB 2138 4,0 5 Manasa K IND 1964 4,0 6 Isayeva Aynur TKM 1929 3,5 7 WFM Mitali Madhukar Patil IND 2041 3,0 8 WFM Uthra P IND 2063 3,0 9 Vardkar Mariam IRI 1811 3,0 10 Zamani Behabadi Nazanin IRI 1864 3,0 11 Sathya Priya S V IND 1920 3,0 12 WFM Thilakawardana Supeshala SRI 1801 2,5 13 Dhara Gupta IND 1876 2,0 14 WFM Al-Zarouni Kholoud Essa UAE 1837 1,5 15 Lokunarangoda Jalashi SRI 1589 1,0 16 Davoodi Yasaman IRI 0 0,5 G-U16 (after 8 rounds): 1 WFM Hoang Thi Nhu Y VIE 2119 5,5 2 WFM Pujari Rucha IND 2033 5,0 3 WFM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung VIE 2219 5,0 WFM Hejazipour Mitra IRI 2098 5,0 5 Qurbonboeva Sarvinoz UZB 1941 5,0 6 WFM Vo Thi Kim Phung VIE 2073 5,0 7 Enkhtuul Altanulzii MGL 2051 5,0 8 Bharathi R IND 2087 5,0 9 Anu Bayar MGL 1845 4,5 10 WCM Gagare Shalmali IND 2135 4,5 11 Velieva Hurma TKM 1960 4,5 12 Asgarizadeh Minoo IRI 1947 4,0 13 Roy Pallabi IND 2058 4,0 14 Zhylkaidarova Sholpan KAZ 1913 4,0 15 Khalaji Hanieh IRI 1914 4,0 16 Preetika Tayal IND 1917 3,5 17 Shangarayeva Daiana KAZ 1888 2,5 Ranasinghe S D SRI 1852 2,5 19 Gunawardena D SRI 0 1,5 20 Choden Sonam BHU 0 0,0 G-U 14 (after 8 rounds): 1 Saranya J IND 2001 7,0 2 WFM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat IRI 1977 7,0 3 Priyanka Kumari IND 2041 6,0 4 Nandhidhaa Pv IND 1878 5,0 5 Bagheri Taleghani Nadia IRI 1783 5,0 6 Pratyusha Bodda IND 1974 4,5 7 Atabayeva Gozel TKM 2001 4,5 8 Anjana Krishna S IND 1904 4,5 9 Bayarmaa Bayarjargal MGL 1959 4,5 10 Vanessa D`souza IND 1856 4,0 11 Premanath Dinushki SRI 1770 4,0 12 Norovsambuu Badamkhand MGL 0 4,0 13 Do Hoang Minh Tho VIE 1931 3,5 14 Rathore Sonakshi IND 1956 3,5 15 Azadvari Zahra IRI 1834 3,5 16 Kahramonova Mohinur UZB 1842 3,5 17 Sydykova Myrzagyl KGZ 0 3,5 18 Arunima Kalra IND 1633 3,0 19 WCM Nguyen Ngoc Thuy Trang VIE 0 2,5 20 Selvaratnam Navodya SRI 1695 2,5 21 Basnayake I U SRI 1701 2,0 22 Manabayeva Aiya KAZ 0 0,5 There are also G-U12, G-U10 and G-U 8 sections, whew! I'll report on all sections when the tournament has concluded.

Asian Youth Chess Championships

August 2 - 9, 2009, New Delhi, India: Over 235 players from 14 countries, including India, are vying for honors in six age groups at the ONGC Asian Youth Chess Championships. The competition is being hosted by the Delhi Chess Association at 'Tivoli Garden Resort' in Under-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-18 categories separately for boys and girls. Vietnam, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bhutan, UAE, Indonesia and Mongolia have confirmed their participation. As always, the Indian press is eagerly reporting on events featuring their players (unlike the U.S. press, sad to say). Here is an article from The Times of India on July 30th (excerpted): The strong Indian squad with 65 players is expected to reap a big harvest from the event that offers 36 medals. In the last edition at Tehran, India won 6 gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze. The Indian Challenge will be spearheaded by World Under-14 Champion Vidit Gujarathi and World Under-12 Champion Sayantan Das. Grandmaster Salem A R Saleh of UAE who won Under-16 category in last edition will start as favourite in Under-18 category this year. The emphasis in this coverage is on the Indian players - as it should be. I don't understand American sports reporters (1) failing to report on such events and (2) if they do report on such events, failing to highlight improvements in American players' relative performances [that perhaps don't finish in medals or top money] from prior performances. Deciding that there is nothing to report because an American player (how egotisc) did not win a medal or even finish in the top 1o - or top 100 - is baloney! The lack of press coverage is a slap in the face to every chessplayer in the USA, including the memory of GM Robert J. Fischer, who was the last American World Chess Champion (1972-1975). We have excellent chessplayers in this country. WE HAVE A CROP OF VERY PROMISING YOUNG CHESSPLAYERS IN THIS COUNTRY. Why does almost everybody ignore them? ARGGGHHHH! Anyway, here is a press report from the Indian press earlier today (I haven't had time to check for updates) about how some of the Indian players doing after Round 3 from The Press Trust of India: STAFF WRITER 17:33 HRS IST New Delhi, Aug 4 (PTI) Tamil Nadu teenager Pon N Krithika beat her statemate P Uthra to emerge as the sole leader with a perfect score after three rounds of the Girls Under-18 section in the ongoing Asian Youth Chess Championship here today.In the Open section of U-18 category, P Shyam Nikil beat Ulziibayar Boldbaatar of Mongolia in the third round to share the lead with Grandmaster Salem A R Saleh of UAE with three points, who beat Indian medal prospect Debashis Das in a well fought third round match.But the shocking incident of the day was the non-appearance of top seed and former World Under-10 Champion Girish Koushik for his third round match against teammate Diptyan Ghosh as he failed to report for the match in time. HOLY CRAP! One of the young Indian players has run-afoul of that really STUPID new FIDE rule about being at the table "on time." This is a huge event. I can't keep up with reporting round by round, but I'll try to publish any reports on interim standings I do find, even if they are only about the Indian players :)