FM Malek Koniahli of Syria (photo above) upset GM Aryan Gholami of Iran to grab solo lead with 3 points in as many rounds of the Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship on Tornelo.
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Gholami essayed the Closed Catalan against Koniahli and won his opponent’s Queen on the 27th move in exchange for a Rook and Knight. However, the Syrian’s doubled Rooks controlled the center file and Gholami’s king was exposed. Koniahli repeated moves, indicating readiness to draw, but the Iranian declined. With his three pieces on the attack, Koniahli weaved a mating net and Gholami resigned on the 55th move (see diagram below).
Four players follow in second slot in the race to qualify to the World Cup next month in Sochi, Russia. Tied with 2.5 points each are GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, IM Sameer Mansour of Jordan, FM Akar Ali Salih of Iraq and CM Malek Saif of Jordan.
Ehsan Ghaem Maghami won by time forfeit over FM Ali Layth Ahmed of Iraq, Salih beat IM Bashir Eiti of Syria while Mansour and Saif drew with each other.
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| Zone 3.1 Chess Championships 2021 | |||||||||||
| Pairings/Results | |||||||||||
| Round 3 on 2021/06/03 at 3:00pm | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 3 | GM | GHOLAMI Aryan | 2513 | 2 | 0 – 1 | 2 | FM | KONIAHLI Malek. | 2255 | 8 |
| 2 | 5 | IM | MANSOUR Sameer | 2308 | 2 | ½ – ½ | 2 | CM | SAIF Malek | 2168 | 11 |
| 3 | 9 | FM | AHMED Ali Layth Ahmed | 2253 | 1½ | 0 – 1 | 1½ | GM | Ghaem Maghami Ehsan | 2547 | 2 |
| 4 | 7 | FM | SALIH Akar Ali Salih | 2274 | 1½ | 1 – 0 | 1½ | IM | EITI Bashir | 2340 | 4 |
| 5 | 1 | GM | IDANI Pouya | 2614 | 1 | 1 – 0 | 1 | IM | Sultan Ibrahim | 2076 | 14 |
| 6 | 13 | CM | ISMAEL Namir Mohammed Ismael | 2122 | 1 | 0 – 1 | 1 | FM | Ammar Sedrani | 2274 | 6 |
| 7 | 22 | AL-ZAATARI Fares Thamer | 0 | 1 | 0 – 1 | 1 | IM | AL HOSANI Omran | 2197 | 10 | |
| 8 | 12 | Chekh Adm Khedr Aram | 2147 | 1 | 1 – 0 | 1 | Radwan Mahmoud J | 0 | 23 | ||
| 9 | 21 | ALOTHMAN Salem | 1558 | ½ | 0 – 1 | 1 | DAWOD Mahmoud.W | 1610 | 20 | ||
| 10 | 15 | FM | Salim Mohammed Salim Al Amri | 1926 | 0 | 0 – 1 | ½ | AL MAASHANI Abdullah | 1831 | 16 | |
| 11 | 17 | MOHAMMED Ahmed Said Al Amri | 1772 | 0 | 0 – 1 | 0 | Seder Mohamad | 1722 | 18 | ||
| 12 | 19 | ALHEJAB Meshal | 1681 | 0 | 1 | bye | |||||
See other news of Asian Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship
Rd 2: Syrian Upsets Top Seed Iranian GM in Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship