19th Asian Games 2022 Team R1: India beats Mongolia and Philippines 3.5-0.5

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/09/2023

Indian Men and Women defeated Mongolia and Philippines convincingly in the first round of 19th Asian Games 2022 Team. Both matches were decided with 3.5-0.5 score in favor of India. D Gukesh had a shaky start. He was on the brink of defeat against GM Sumiya Bilguun (MGL). However, he somehow managed to escape with a draw. His remaining teammates - R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi won their respective games comfortably. Among the Women, only IM Vantika Agrawal was held to a draw by WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda (PHI). GM Harika Dronavalli, IM Vaishali R and WGM Savitha Shri B won their respective games without any difficulty. Indian Men will face Uzbekistan, while the Women's team will be up against Vietnam. Round 2 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Official site

Gukesh survives a big scare

Men Round 1: India - Mongolia: 3.5-0.5

19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 official logo | Photo: Asian Games fb page

Men: India - Mongolia: 3.5-0.5

GM D Gukesh (2758) was held to a draw by GM Sumiya Bilguun (2456). GM R Praggnanandhaa (2727), GM Vidit Gujrathi (2716) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2712) scored victories over GM Tsegmed Batchuluun (2449), IM Sugar Gan-Erdene (2418) and IM Ganzorig Amartuvshin (2412) respectively.

Gukesh - Bilguun

Position after 43...Nd2

42.b5?? spelled doom for White. Bilguun found the correct 43...Nd2 however he could not follow through correctly 44.Rd1 Nf3+ 45.Kh1 now Qe2 would have dropped material as both rook and e7-bishop would have been under attack. 45...Qxf2? and Gukesh managed to salvage a draw.

India - Mongolia: 3.5-0.5

Replay India - Mongolia games

Indian Men are off to a great start

Round 1 Men in progress

Women: Philippines - India: 3.5-0.5

GM Harika Dronavalli (2502), IM Vaishali R (2448) and WGM Savitha Shri B (2375) scored wins over WGM Janelle Mae Frayna (2215), WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego (2156) and WIM Bernadette Galas (2045) respectively. IM Vantika Agrawal (2435) was held to a draw by WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda (2143).

Vaishali - Marie Antoinette

Position after 22...Qh7

White is ready to launch an attack on the queenside as all her pieces - queen, two rooks, bishop and knight are poised for the attack. Find out the best way to execute the plan which Vaishali played in the game.