Two superpowers clash today!

by ChessBase India - 01/04/2016

It is the most crucial game of the entire tournament. India takes on China in the fifth round of the Asian Nations Cup 2016. This match might well decide who goes on to win the tournament. In this article we have the pairings, and the predictions along with four live boards for you to view the games along with powerful functions like livebook, engines, lets check etc.

The Asian Nations Cup Chess Championship 2016 is in progress at the Novotel Abu Dhabi Al Bustan hotel with 20 countries competing for the right to represent Asia in the World Chess Team Championship. Four rounds have been completed and in the open section as expected China lead with 8.0/8. India, who is the second seed and also has a strong team is currently in the second place with 7.0/8. While these points are important, it is clear that the clash between these two leaders will decide who will win this event.

On 1st of April, at 4.30 P.M IST India takes on China in the fifth round of the event. So, who do you think are the favourites? Well, Let's have a look at the pairing:

China will have the white on the first and third boards while India will have white on second and fourth.

Bu Xiangzhi vs B.Adhiban

Adhiban has always been a strong player with the black pieces. He plays for a win even with black and has beaten many a strong players in the King's Indian in the past. His yesterday's loss to Salem Saleh will spur him on to perform better today. We predict that Adhiban will come out on top against Bu Xiangzhi.

Wang Yue vs Sethuraman(white)

Wang Yue is a super solid player, but Sethuraman with the white pieces can prepare really well for the game. It will be a well-fought game and we predict a draw.

Wei Yi vs Vidit Gujrathi

Vidit has proved it on many occasions in the past that he is not afraid of young prodigies. He beat Richard Rapport with the black pieces in the World Team Championships last year. However, facing Wei Yi with the black pieces is always going to be a difficult task. Although we are not too thrilled with that result, we have a feeling that Wei Yi will come out on top.

Lu Shanglei vs Sasikiran (white)

his is a must score game for India. Sasikiran has the white pieces against the talented but not 100% solid Lu Shanglei. The Chinese player has shown in the past that he can really create some brilliancies but he has also been a victim to positional disasters. Just have a look at his game against Gelfand from Aeroflot 2016. Sasikiran must win this and we think he will.

So as per our predictions:

Bu Xiangzhi - Adhiban 0-1

Wang Yue - Sethuraman 0.5-0.5

Wei Yi - Vidit Gujrathi 1-0

Lu Shanglei - Sasikiran 0-1

This makes it a 2.5-1.5 victory for India! What are your predictions? Please write to us in the comments section below!

We contacted coach Vishal Sareen who is in Abu Dhabi with the Indian team. "Both boys and girls are raring to go. The atmosphere is electric! I hope we win today!"

Two superpowers clash today!

Follow the games live starting 4.30 p.m. IST