The 2021 Asian Online Youth Chess Championships (Open Division) has started on tornelo with separate championships for Boys 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.
A record number of 908 boys from 21 countries are participating, namely Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hongkong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Boys under 18
Ninth seed CM Nguyen Huynh Minh Thien of Vietnam defeated 2nd seed Gan-Erdene Sugar of Mongolia to share the lead with IM Thilakarathne G M H of Sri Lanka, after three rounds in the Open U-18 category. Four players share 3rd to 6th place namely Anuj Shrivatri (IND), Lam Thien Nguyen (VIE), Johnmari Joseph Lu (PHI) and Aireza Bosagh Zadeh of Iran. Nine players scored 2 points including top seed FM Nogerbek Kazybek of Kazakhstan who remained unbeaten after missing his game in the 1st round.
Boys under 16
Degenbaev Aziz of Kyrgystan defeated top seed FM Jimmy Jubin (IND) while FM Aaryan Varshney (IND) defeated the third seed in round 3 to remain unbeaten after 3 rounds. They are tied for 1st to 6th place with Vietnamese Pham Thien Phuc Vo and Dang Minh Quang Tran, And Ilya Darini & Anand Pranav of India. 7th – 10th places are shared by four players with 2 ½ points.
Boys under 14
Out of 135 players, 13 remain unbeaten with 3 points each including 1st and 2nd seed Indians IM Subramaniyam H Bharath and CM Mahajan Bhavesh respectively. Six players share 14th – 19th place, while 38 players are still in the running with 2 points.
Boys Under 12
Competition in the Boys under 12 division is fierce with 18 players sharing the lead with a perfect score after three rounds. Fourteen players scored 2.5 points to share 19th – 32nd, while 590 boys scored two points after winning two games and losing one.
Boys Under 10
With the most number of participants (256), the under 10 category is interesting, particularly after 24 players scoring 3 points after three rounds. Twelve boys scored 2.5 while 77 amassed two points each. As expected almost all the top 20 seeded players are leading including Barad Yeganegi (IRI), Dau Khuong Duy (VIE) and 3rd seed Mao Daqi of New Zealand.
Boys Under 8
It is also a toss up in the under 8, with 209 players, and 22 maintaining a perfect score. Seven players are at their tail with 2.5 points while 63 boys are within striking distance after amassing 2 points each.