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Asian Continentals: Indians lead both Open and Women's

by Aditya Pai - 15/12/2018

Indian players, GM Surya Ganguly and IM Padmini Rout, found themselves on top of the leaderboard in the Open and Women's segments respectively at the close of the fifth round of the Asian Continental Championship. On the top board in the open group, Ganguly steamrolled compatriot SP Sethuraman after the latter fumbled in the early stages of a Spanish Opening. Padmini Rout, who also had the whites in her game against WFM Munkhzul Turmunkh, pulled out a clean win in a Sicilian Najdorf to race ahead of her rivals. Round 5 report. | Thumbnail image: Genghis Imperial

Ganguly takes sole lead

GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2621) emerged as the sole leader at the conclusion of the fifth round of the Asian Continental Championship in Makati City, Philippines, on Friday evening. Going into the round, Ganguly co-led the tournament alongside countryman SP Sethuraman (2664) and Wei Yi (2728). While Ganguly brought down Sethuraman, Wei Yi content himself with a mere 13 move draw against compatriot Ni Hua and slipped down to the second spot. Half a point behind Wei is a crowd of 15 players who share the third place at 3.5/5. Three prominent names in this list include GM Wang Hao (2730), GM Le Quang Liem (2714) and GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2701).

 

Sethuraman, who had the black pieces against Ganguly chose to discuss the Open Spanish but went astray very early. Ganguly had sacrificed a pawn in the opening and Sethuraman sought to liquidate the position by offering a queen exchange. But the boot was on the wrong foot when Ganguly whipped out a stunning bishop sacrifice.

Position after 14...Qf6

Ganguly immediately exploited black's central king position here with 15.Bxd5! If the bishop is captured 15...cxd5, white has 16.Qxd5 and there are all kinds of threats looming over black. Sethuraman tried getting his king to [relative] safety with 15...0-0-0 but after 16.Bxe6+ Kb7 17.Qe3 white was a pawn up and had a fantastic position. The game went on until the 44th move but Ganguly was in total control all the way through.

The battle of the two leaders | Photo: Genghis Imperial

On the fifth board, Adhiban Baskaran's (2695) position looked slightly precarious due to Rinat Jumabayev's (2602) far advanced pawns on the queenside. But 'the beast' managed to keep things under control and secured a draw after 67 moves.

Adhiban Baskaran made his fourth straight draw in round five and moved up to 3.0/5 | Photo: Genghis Imperial

In another all-Indian encounter, Vidit Gujrathi defeated GM Shardul Gagare (2504) from the black side of an English Opening | Photo: Genghis Imperial

Women's

The women's group also saw an Indian rise to the top out of a three-way tie in the fifth round as IM Padmini Rout (2345) defeated Mongolian WFM Munkhzul Turmunkh (2255). The third co-leader, IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen (2363) lost, in the meanwhile to Singaporean WGM Gong Qianyun (2312), leaving Padmini in sole lead at 4.5/5.

 

Padmini had the white pieces in a Sicilian Najdorf. Getting a slight edge out of the opening, she exploited her opponent's weaknesses perfectly in the queenless endgame that ensued. By the time the first time control was reached, Padmini's advantage had become overwhelming. Right after the first time control, she found a neat tactic that won her a piece and forced resignation about 10 moves later.

Padmini Rout, moments before the game | Photo: Genghis Imperial

16-year-old Aashna Makhija (2181) held her compatriot Nandhidhaa PV (2267) to a comfortable draw with the black pieces. | Photo: Genghis Imperial

Standings (open)

Rk.SNo NameFEDRtgIBdldPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4 Rpnwwew-weKrtg+/-
111
GMGANGULY Surya ShekharIND26214,50,0259714,016,0296354,52,641,861018,6
22
GMWEI YiCHN27284,00,0257914,517,02819543,450,55105,5
351
FMLYE Lik ZangMAS23213,50,0259413,516,0274353,50,882,622052,4
47
GMNI HuaCHN26833,50,0258213,515,0273153,53,160,34103,4
510
GMLU ShangleiCHN26363,50,0256113,015,0271053,52,990,51105,1
614
GMJUMABAYEV RinatKAZ26023,50,0253711,514,0268653,52,910,59105,9
78
GMSETHURAMAN S.P.IND26643,50,0252814,016,0267753,53,390,11101,1
820
IMXU YiCHN25363,50,0252811,513,0267753,52,550,95109,5
99
GMNGUYEN Ngoc Truong SonVIE26413,50,0249811,513,5264753,53,390,11101,1
1017
GMABDUSATTOROV NodirbekUZB25463,50,0248112,514,0263053,52,900,60106,0

Standings (women)

Rk.SNo NamesexFEDRtgIBdldPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4 Rpnwwew-weKrtg+/-
18
IMPADMINI RoutwIND23454,50,0226814,015,5262854,53,021,481014,8
210
WGMGONG QianyunwSGP23124,00,0224211,513,02470542,991,012020,2
314
WFMMUNKHZUL TurmunkhwMGL22553,50,0235814,016,5243353,52,261,244049,6
41
WIMZHU JinerwCHN24093,50,0230115,018,0244153,53,270,23204,6
59
WGMHOANG Thi Bao TramwVIE23143,50,0228212,513,5240153,52,890,61106,1
66
IMPHAM Le Thao NguyenwVIE23633,50,0227114,016,5240153,53,240,26102,6
73
IMGUO QiwCHN23683,50,0225811,013,0240853,53,200,30103,0
87
WGMVO Thi Kim PhungwVIE23523,50,0215812,013,5230953,53,65-0,1510-1,5
919
WFMLI YunshanwCHN21963,50,0208612,012,0214153,53,090,414016,4
1015
NING KaiyuwCHN22473,00,0223410,011,02284532,670,33206,6

Results of round 5 (open)

Bo.No. NameBdldFEDRtgPts.ResultPts.NameBdldFEDRtg No.
111
GMGANGULY Surya ShekharIND26211 - 0GMSETHURAMAN S.P.IND2664
8
27
GMNI HuaCHN26833½ - ½GMWEI YiCHN2728
2
39
GMNGUYEN Ngoc Truong SonVIE26413½ - ½3GMLU ShangleiCHN2636
10
417
GMABDUSATTOROV NodirbekUZB25463½ - ½3FMLYE Lik ZangMAS2321
51
55
GMADHIBAN B.IND2695½ - ½3GMJUMABAYEV RinatKAZ2602
14
622
GMTRAN Tuan MinhVIE25240 - 1GMWANG HaoCHN2730
1
73
GMLE Quang LiemVIE27141 - 0GMTAN ZhongyiCHN2508
24
825
GMGAGARE ShardulIND25040 - 1GMVIDIT Santosh GujrathiIND2701
4
923
GMMEGARANTO SusantoINA2512½ - ½GMMAGHSOODLOO ParhamIRI2688
6
1012
GMFIROUZJA AlirezaIRI26070 - 1IMVOKHIDOV ShamsiddinUZB2480
30

Results of Round 5 (women)

Bo.No. NameBdldFEDRtgPts.ResultPts.NameBdldFEDRtg No.
18
IMPADMINI RoutIND23451 - 0WFMMUNKHZUL TurmunkhMGL2255
14
26
IMPHAM Le Thao NguyenVIE23630 - 13WGMGONG QianyunSGP2312
10
33
IMGUO QiCHN23683½ - ½3WGMHOANG Thi Bao TramVIE2314
9
41
WIMZHU JinerCHN24091 - 03NING KaiyuCHN2247
15
519
WFMLI YunshanCHN21961 - 0WGMAULIA Medina WardaINA2366
5
625
WFMBACH Ngoc Thuy DuongVIE21310 - 1WGMVO Thi Kim PhungVIE2352
7
718
WIMCITRA Dewi Ardhiani AnastasiaINA2215½ - ½WFMDOROY Allaney Jia GPHI1972
33
84
WGMWANG JueCHN236721 - 02WGMFRAYNA Janelle MaePHI2228
17
920
LI XueyiCHN218721 - 02WIMALINASAB MobinaIRI2295
11
1012
WIMNANDHIDHAA P VIND22672½ - ½2WFMMAKHIJA AashnaIND2181
21