Asian Continental 2023 R7: Divya Deshmukh takes a full-point lead

by Himank Ghosh - 09/06/2023

In the all-Indian battle at the top board, India's latest Female IM came out on top. IM Divya Deshmukh won against WGM Mary Ann Gomes, where the latter blundered in a complex Rook ending. With this win, Divya is leading the women's section with 6/7 points. In the Open section, GM Arjun Erigaisi had a draw against the tournament leader GM Shamsiddin Vokidov (UZB). Aronyak Ghosh is just half a point behind Shamsiddin, as he defeated one of the World's top juniors GM Pranav V with the White pieces in a chaotic battle. IM Aronyak Ghosh is the only Indian player with 5.5/6, while GMs Abhimanyu Puranik. Arjun Erigaisi and Prraneeth Vuppala trail behind with 5/6. Round 8 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

Aronyak inches closer to the leader

It was a tense battle between Mary Ann Gomes and Divya Deshmukh, but the youngster came out on top | Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

Divya Deshmukh - Mary Ann Gomes

IM Divya Deshmukh had a better position throughout the majority of the game, but her opponent WGM Mary Ann Gomes put up solid resistance and the players reached a drawn Rook ending. Divya is a pawn up, but with correct play it should be a draw. But with just 2 minutes in the clock, Mary blundered:

Position after 72...Rd4+?

Black has to just maintain their position here - moves like ...h6, ...Rd1 are the way to draw. But 72...Rd4+? allows 73. Ke5, and now the White King gets active with a tempo! The game continued with 73...Rd3 74. Ke6 Re3+ 75. Re5 Rxf3 76. Kxe7, and the strength of the d-pawn was too much to handle. Divya won the game in a few more moves.

IM Aronyak Ghosh defeated one of the world's top rising youngsters, Pranav V | Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

Aronyak Ghosh - Pranav V

Position after 32...d4

It was a very complex game between GM Pranav V and IM Aronyak Ghosh where both sides had better positions at multiple points, but it was Pranav who made the final error with 32...d4. Aronyak simply captured the offered material with 33.Bxe7 Qxe7 34. Nxc8 Rxc8 35. exd4, and emerged an exchange up. Pranav had envisioned a strong attack on the White king, but he maybe missed one key defense: after 35...e3 36. Re2 exf2+ 37. Kf1! and the White King is completely safe, using the Black f-pawn as a shield. Aronyak managed to win the game comfortably.

IM Divya Deshmukh is the sole leader with | Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

IM Aronyak Ghosh is now at 5.5/7, just a half point behind the leader GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) | Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

GM Prraneeth Vuppala - IM Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB) (pictured): 1-0 | Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) - GM Arjun Erigaisi (pictured): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

The busy tournament hall as the 7th round is in progress | Photo: Nursultan Sabdenov

A total of 87 players including 17 GMs and 21 IMs in the Open, 38 players including 5 IMs, 5 WGMs and 9 WIMs in the Women, are taking part from 18 countries across the world including India. The nine-round Swiss League Classical Rating tournament is taking place from 4th to 11th June 2023 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It is being organized by Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, the Asian Chess Federation, and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation with the support of the Akimat of Almaty. The time control of the tournament is 90 minutes / 40 moves + 30 mins / end + 30 seconds increment per move starting from move no.1.

Replay Round 7 Open games

Replay Round 7 Women games

Round 7 Open results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
7	1	7	GM	Vokhidov Shamsiddin	UZB	2583	5½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2702	1
7	2	10	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	IND	2534	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Pranav V	IND	2608	3
7	3	18	IM	Nogerbek Kazybek	KAZ	2493	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2602	5
7	7	16	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	IND	2498	4	1 - 0	4½	IM	Madaminov Mukhiddin	UZB	2431	28
7	8	29	IM	Mohammad Fahad Rahman	BAN	2424	4	0 - 1	3½	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2606	4
7	10	34	IM	Ansat Aldiyar	KAZ	2384	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Das Sayantan	IND	2508	13
7	11	15	IM	Samant Aditya S	IND	2503	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Zhalmakhanov Ramazan	KAZ	2414	32
7	13	35	IM	Kazakov Konstantin	KAZ	2380	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	IND	2490	19
7	17	39	FM	Suyarov Mukhammadzokhid	UZB	2347	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	IND	2436	24
7	27	60		Assylov Miras	KAZ	2017	2½	0 - 1	2½	IM	Dushyant Sharma	IND	2345	40

Details

Round 7 Women results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Rtg	No.
7	1	2	WGM	Divya Deshmukh		2389	5	1 - 0	5	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann		2315	7
7	6	4	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V		2363	3½	1 - 0	3½	WIM	Nurgali Nazerke		2210	14
7	7	19	WIM	Makhija Aashna		2126	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Soumya Swaminathan		2293	8
7	8	9	FM	Kurmangaliyeva Liya		2264	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Mohota Nisha		2185	16
7	9	13	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi		2225	3½	1 - 0	3½	WGM	Gong Qianyun		2257	12

Details

Standings after Round 7 in Open

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	7	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	UZB	2583	6	2515	27,5	30	0
2	10	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	IND	2534	5,5	2425	25	28	0
3	8	GM	Tin, Jingyao	SGP	2570	5,5	2407	25	28	0
4	18	IM	Nogerbek, Kazybek	KAZ	2493	5	2504	26,5	30	0
5	9	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	IRI	2555	5	2503	28	31	0
6	22	IM	Suleymenov, Alisher	KAZ	2463	5	2500	26,5	29	0
7	6	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat	KAZ	2590	5	2493	29	32,5	0
8	5	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	IND	2602	5	2468	26	29,5	0
9	27		Utegaliyev, Azamat	KAZ	2432	5	2458	28	30,5	0
10	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2702	5	2439	26,5	30	0

Details

Standings after Round 7 in Women

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	2	WGM	Divya, Deshmukh	IND	2389	6	2219	28	31,5	0
2	20	WIM	Nurmanova, Alua	KAZ	2102	5	2315	26,5	30	0
3	7	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann	IND	2315	5	2283	26	29	0
4	1	IM	Munguntuul, Batkhuyag	MGL	2397	5	2249	27	30	0
5	5	WIM	Kamalidenova, Meruert	KAZ	2350	5	2214	23	25	0
6	11	WGM	Munkhzul, Turmunkh	MGL	2259	4,5	2232	27,5	30,5	0
7	13	WIM	Chitlange, Sakshi	IND	2225	4,5	2224	22,5	25	0
8	15	WIM	Balabayeva, Xeniya	KAZ	2186	4,5	2189	23,5	25,5	0
9	19	WIM	Makhija, Aashna	IND	2126	4,5	2130	24,5	26,5	0
10	4	WGM	Nandhidhaa, P V	IND	2363	4,5	2128	21,5	24	0

Details

Round 8 Open pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
8	2	5	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2602	5		5½	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	IND	2534	10
8	3	1	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2702	5		5		Utegaliyev Azamat	KAZ	2432	27
8	5	22	IM	Suleymenov Alisher	KAZ	2463	5		5	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	IND	2498	16
8	6	3	GM	Pranav V	IND	2608	4½		5	GM	Daneshvar Bardiya	IRI	2555	9
8	7	4	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2606	4½		4½	IM	Atabayev Saparmyrat	TKM	2433	26
8	9	13	GM	Das Sayantan	IND	2508	4½		4½	FM	Suyarov Mukhammadzokhid	UZB	2347	39
8	12	35	IM	Kazakov Konstantin	KAZ	2380	4		4	IM	Samant Aditya S	IND	2503	15
8	14	19	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	IND	2490	4		4	IM	Tologon Tegin Semetei	KGZ	2371	37
8	20	24	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	IND	2436	3½		3½	FM	Mamedov Edgar	KAZ	2224	51
8	23	40	IM	Dushyant Sharma	IND	2345	3½		3½	FM	Ilkhomi Jaloliddin	TJK	1994	62

Details

Round 8 Women pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Rtg	No.
8	1	5	WIM	Kamalidenova Meruert		2350	5		6	WGM	Divya Deshmukh		2389	2
8	2	20	WIM	Nurmanova Alua		2102	5		5	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann		2315	7
8	3	1	IM	Munguntuul Batkhuyag		2397	5		4½	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V		2363	4
8	5	11	WGM	Munkhzul Turmunkh		2259	4½		4½	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi		2225	13
8	6	10	WFM	Khamdamova Afruza		2260	4		4½	WIM	Makhija Aashna		2126	19
8	8	8	IM	Soumya Swaminathan		2293	3½		4	WIM	Kairbekova Amina		2146	17
8	11	16	IM	Mohota Nisha		2185	3½		3½	WCM	Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar		1811	28

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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