The Korean Chess Federation (KCF) under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) and FIDE,
invites national chess federations in the region to participate in the Eastern Asia Juniors and Girls
Chess Championship, to be held in Gangneung, Korea, during 1st– 9th August 2018.
Download regulations here: Eastern_Asia_Juniors_Chess_Championship__2018
Pattaya has long been a favorite venue for international chess tournaments in Thailand thanks to tourist friendly beach resort hotels and infrastructure just two hours from Bangkok.
Numerous Bangkok Chess Club Open Championships and ASEAN Age-Group Championships and even the World Schools Championships have received rave reviews.
Now there is a new event – Thailand Pattaya Open Chess Championships – with many of the same organisers to be held from 24-31 October 2018. Prospectus is here: Open-Amateur-Regulations.
Adding to the Open and Amateur sections will be the Thailand Pattaya Youth Chess Championships held from 20-14 October 2018. Prospectus is here: Thailand-Pattaya-Youth-2018.
School chess is continuing to grow in Nepal. The Annapurna Maitri Rating Open Tournament 2018 was held in five sections, Open, U-12 Open, U-12 Girls, U-10 Open and U-10 Girls and saw 344 participants.
The organisers Annapurna fittingly lifted their 14th title as overall winners. See: http://chess-results.
Singapore is seeing, from the 7th to 12th of June, perhaps the strongest chess tournament held there in recent years – the QCD-Prof. Lim Kok Ann Grandmasters Invitational.
QCD is a new sponsor for Singapore chess and is committed to helping support this event for the next three years which already in its first edition has been seen many in the local community stepping forward with very generous financial contributions.
Yes, what more when beyond the usual creating of title norm opportunities for local talents, the event was also in honour of Prof. Lim Kok Ann, the Father of Singapore Chess!
Everything you need to know about the event is at www.qcdchess.com with live games broadcast on major live game viewing sites www.chess24.com and www.playchess.com and picked up by mobile Apps like Follow Chess.
Here we instead share photos from the first opening ceremony, tribute and first round so as to appreciate the wonderful atmosphere where the entire local chess community came together.
Participants and the Organiser’s Support Team from SCF
Guests, Players and Supporters!
Opening Ceremony
Prof. Lim Kok Ann Tribute
All who came are chess players!
Key People Behind the Scenes – The Coordinators at Work
Round One is Underway
Asian Nations Chess Cup
26 July – 4 August 2018, Hamadan, Iran
To All FIDE Affiliated Chess Federation in Asia
Zone 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7
Dear Chess Friends,
Special Report By Ed Andaya
THE whole of Asia — and not only the host Philippines — is the biggest winner in the recently-concluded 2018 Asian Universities Chess Championships held at the Tagaytay International Convention Center last May 26-June 2.
And why Asia?
Let us count the way.
First, the AUCC 2018 produced an unlikely men’s champion in No. 8 seed FM Yoseph Theolifus Taher and underscored Indonesia’s dramatic rise back on top of Asian chess.
Second, China lived up to its high billing in the women’s division with a 1-2-3-4 finish led by top seed WGM Wang Jue.
And third, host Philippines unveiled the future with Istraelito Rilloraza, Mari Joseph Turqueza, Paulo Bersamina and John Marvin Miciano, who came up with respectable showings in the men’s division, and Bernadette Galas, Alphecca Gonzales, Kylen Joy Mordido and Shania Ma Mendoza, who finished in the Top 10 in the women’s side.
“Asian players need this kind of developmental tournaments to hone their skills and even test their strength by playing against one another. FIDE secretary-general Cong. Bambol Tolentino know the importance of hosting this tournament for young players in Asia,” said Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre.
“The players are already winners by participating in the AUCC. This is good for development of chess not only in the Philippines but in whole of Asia,” added Asian Chess Federation executive director Toti Abundo,
Men’s division
Indonesia – Champions. The Writer with the Chief Arbiter.
There were plenty of surprises in the 42-player men’s competition with the gods of chess finally smiling on Taher, one of four players under Indonesian coach-GM Susanto Megaranto.
A combination of Taher’s victory over No. 10 FM Jeevitesh Sai Agni of India and IM Syah Farid Firman over top seed IM Xu Yi of China did the trick for the Indonesians.
Taher, the 18-year-old student at Gunadarma University in Jakarta, finished the nine-round tournament with seven points on five wins and four draws.
Surprisingly enough, all his four draws came against the top two Chinese players — Xu and second seed IM Wang Chen — and the top two Filipinos — IM John Marvin Miciano and Paulo Bersamina.
Aside from the draws with these higher-rated players, Taher had razor-sharp games to cut down the rest of his opponents — No. 29 Takaya Noguchi of Japan in the first round, No. 17 Rilloraza in the second round, No. 14 Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano of the Philippines in the fifth round, No. 12 FM Ariz Abdul Hafiz on Indonesia in the eighth round and Sai Agni in the ninth and final round.
Xu, the highest-rated player in the field with an ELO of 2526, settled for runner-up honor with 6.5 points on five wins, three draws and one loss in the final round.
Xu actually finished in a three-way tie for second to fourth places with Muhammad Lufti Ali of Indonesia and IM Wang Chen of China, but clinched the silver medal by virtue of higher tiebreak score.
Ali edged Wang for the bronze to complete Indonesia’s 1-3 finish.
It was a heartbreaker for Xu.
The 20-year-old campaigner from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics led from the fourth round onwards. By round 7, he led the way with six points and by a full point over Taher and five other players.
But a draw and a loss to Indonesians Ali and Firman pulled him down and allowed Taher to snatch the gold.
The Filipinos also have reasons to smile.
Rilloraza, Turqueza, Bersamina, Miciano, CM John Merill Jacutina and Sevillano did not disappoint
Rilloraza, the 17-year-old student of UAAP champion Far Eastern University under GM Jayson Gonzales, swept his last three games to finish fifth overall with six points on six wins and three losses.
Turqueza, the pride of NCAA champion San Beda University, wound up ninth overall with six points, with all his five wins coming against fellow Filipinos.
Bersamina had 5.5 points, including 3/3 in the first three rounds; Miciano also had 5.5 points despite going 1/3 in the homestretch marred by a final-round setback to Ali; Jacutina had five points highlighted by a fighting draw with No. 3 seed Wang Yiye of China in the fourth round; and Sevillano had the same score of five ponts despute a final-round loss to Yiye.
Sai Agni, who represented Ismsnia University, was the highest-placed Indian player at No. 8 with 6/9.
Top scorer for Malaysia was No. 16 Yeap Eng Chiam, who finished in 11th place with 5.5/9.
Japan, Nepal and Pakistan also sent players.
Women’s division
China – Champion. Multiple Gold Winner WGM Wang Yue.
It was an all-China show in the women’s division.
But there’s no surprise there.
Top seed WGM Wang Jue did not relinquish the lead enroute to a runaway score 7.5 points on six wins and three draws.
Wang, a 23-year-old stunner from Capital University of PE and Sports in Beijing, swept her first three assignments with surprising ease.
The top-seeded Wang (ELO 2366) slowed down a bit with draws against fellow Chinese and No. 2 seed WIM Qiu Mengji and No. 8 seed Filipina Marie Antoinette San Diego before resuming her winning ways with three more victories.
A final-round draw by Wang with Galas sealed the half-point win over three other Chinese and one Filipina players.
After the tiebreak, it was Nie Xin, second; Liu Manli, third; Qiu Mengjie, fourth; and San Diego, fifth.
Gonzales was the biggest surprise.
A student of Ramon Durano Foundation-Danao, Gonzales more than held her own to finish sixth overall with 5.5 points.
The 21st-seeded Filipina had five wins, three losses and one draw. She lost two of her first three matches before coming back to win the next three, including one decisively against No. 10 seed Hu Yu of China.
India and Malaysia were the other top-performing countries.
No. 5 Sahajasri Choletti of India finished seventh with 5.5 points, while No. 12 WFM Azman Hisham Nur Nabila of Malaysia came in 11th with five points.
Blitz competitions
The results of the seven-round blitz tournaments held right before the awarding ceremony mirrored the outcome of the standard chess events with Taher and Wang also bagging the titles with 6.5/7.
Second and third placers in men’s blitz were Firman (6) and Xie Yu (5.5) of China.
In the distaff side, Nie Xin and Mengjie Qiu both had 5.5 points for second and third places.
Team championship
Led by Taher and Firman, Gunadarma University of Indonesia captured the overall title after winning all four gold medals in the men’s standard and blitz chess competitions.
Taher swept the gold medals in the standard competition with seven points in nine rounds and blitz event with 6.5 points in seven rounds.
Firman added a silver in blitz and Ali had a bronze in standard chess.
Two Chinese teams — Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Capital University of PE and Sports — finished with two gold medals each both in the women’s category.
Shanghai University dominated the women’s competitions with two team golds, while WGM Wang Jue of Capital University swept the individual golds in standard and blitz with 7.5/9 and 6.5/7, respectively.
Shanghai also added four silvers and four bronzes to emerge as the winningest team with a total of 10 medals.
The Philippines finished fourth overall with two silvers in blitz and one bronze in standard chess of the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC),headed by chairman William “Butch Ramirez.
UAAP champion Far Eastern University captured the bronze medal in standard chess with 16.5 points behind Istraelito Rilloraza (6), Miciano (5.5) and John Jacutina (5).
FEU also pocketed a gold medal in the junior division, while NCAA member Arellano University, handled by coach Rudy Ibanez settled for the silver.
Winning the silver blitz medals for the host nation are the national teams of Daniel Quizon, Sevillano and Bersamina in the men’s division and Venice Vicente, Marie Antoinette San Diego and Mendoza in the women’s category.
Mike Lapitan, who represented both FIDE secretary-general Cong. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Tagaytay City Mayor Agnes Tolentino, awarded the trophies and medals to the winners.
He was assisted by Torre, Abundo, National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) officials Red Dumuk and Judge Gonzalo Mapili and chief arbiter Bong Bunawan of Indonesia.
As the curtains in Tagaytay came to a fitting close, Bunawan only had six words to all the participants: “See you in Bali next year.”
The 2nd Scholarship Chess Tournament which is mainly sponsored by the Golden Gate International College offers NPR 2,500,000 (USD 25,000) in college scholarships each year to 10 players from the Open (Boys) and the Girls Sections.
This initiative, now in it’s second year, is a huge contribution to making college education more available in Nepal and which of course also attracts students to play chess!
This year the Open (Boys) winner was Sudip Tamang and the Girls winner Anisha Neupane, both students from Pioneer Public School, and they happily claimed the full scholarship.
There were a total of 122 players in the Open (Boys) section and 32 players in the Girls section. The Chief guest was Mr. Ramesh Silwal, CEO of Golden Gate International College and he distributed the prizes.
The full results can be found at the following links below:
Thapa Krishna emerged the winner of the KKC National Open Rating Tournament held from 26-31 May 2018 in Kakarbhitta, Jhapa.
His score of 7.5/9 put him half a point clear from a field of 95 which included seven former national champions.
Youth was the biggest winner with the majority prizes in the NPR 260,000 (USD 2,600) tournament going to young players
Chess in Nepal is on the up, the KKC National Open already the eighth such tournament held this year from a total of twenty planned catering for all including schools, colleges, corporates, national wide and international grandmaster.
Detailed results at: http://chess-results.com/tnr356971.aspx?lan=1
The FIDE Chess Rating for June 2018 has been published and China’s Ding Liren is the top Asian after reaching the No. 4 spot in the world rankings.
His countryman Yu Yangyi joins India’s former World Champion Viswanathan Anand in second spot.
The Asia top ten player list continues to be dominated by players from China, with Wei Yi in fourth place, Li Chao in seventh, Bu Xiangyi in eight and Wang Hao sharing ninth to tenth with India’s Santosh Gujrathi Vidit who is one of three Indians on the list.
India’s Pentala Harikrishan is in fifth place while in sixth is the only non China or Indian player in Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem,
The Asian Top 10 ranking for women sees an even bigger domination by China with seven places taken up by their players beginning with Hou Yifan and new World Champion Ju Wenjun who are also respectively ranked one and two in the world.
China’s Li Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi take the next two places with the fifth spot going to India’s Harika Dronavalli.
In sixth and seventh places are the outstanding young Kazakhstan talents Dinara Saduakassova and Zhansaya Abdumalik, both former World Junior Champions.
Then it is back to business for China with Zhou Yue, Shen Yang and Huang Qian taking the eighth, ninth and tenth spots.
| Top 10 Asian Players | ||||
| Rankings – Men | ||||
| 1 | 4 | Ding Liren | 2798 | China |
| 2 | 13 | Yu Yangyi | 2759 | China |
| Anand, Viswanathan | India | |||
| 4 | 21 | We Yi | 2734 | China |
| 5 | 22 | Harikrishna, P | 2732 | India |
| 6 | 25 | Le Quang Liem | 2728 | Vietnam |
| 7 | 27 | Li Chao | 2725 | China |
| 8 | 29 | Bu Xiangzhi | 2718 | China |
| 9 | 32 | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 2710 | India |
| Wang Hao | 2710 | China | ||
| Rankings – Women | ||||
| 1 | 1 | Hou Yifan | 2658 | China |
| 2 | 2 | Ju Wenjun | 2570 | China |
| 3 | 7 | Le Tingjie | 2530 | China |
| 4 | 8 | Tan Zhongyi | 2522 | China |
| 5 | 12 | Harika, Dronavalli | 2494 | India |
| 6 | 14 | Saduakassova, Dubara | 2491 | Kazakhstan |
| 7 | 16 | Abdumalik, Zhansaya | 2488 | Kazakhstan |
| 8 | 18 | Zhao Yue | 2478 | China |
| 9 | 22 | Shen Yang | 2468 | China |
| 10 | 30 | Huang Qian | 2449 | China |
The Tromso World Chess Olympiad in 2014 saw for the very first time, a team from Asia emerging as the champion in the open section – China had made history and with India in third place it seemed we were witnessing a changing of the world order!
Two years before, at the Istanbul World Chess Olympiad 2012, China had ensured this would not be a big surprise when they finished second in both the open and the women’s sections.
But in the Baku World Chess Olympiad 2016, while the once again top seeded China women finally took Gold after repeatedly setting for second, their men were never in contention and only finished a disappointing 13th in failing to defend their title.
What can we then expect from the leading Asian teams at in Batumi?
China’s No. 1 Ding Liren has gone from strength to strength in the last two years, and will form a near impregnable top board for his team. Remember that he is now without a loss since August 2017 and is nearing the 2800 mark. But question marks remain of the rest of the top Chinese who are all amongst the elite but have not shown the same level and results as at the time they won in Tromso.
While China remains the No. 2 chess nation in the world and will still be a favourite, the big challenge from Asia might come from a highly motivated and always dangerous Indian team who have their former world champion Viswanathan Anand finally returning to play in Olympiads.
After all, no one can underestimate a team from the fifth ranked country in the world which has the likes of Anand, Pentala Harikrishna, Santosh Gujrathi Vidit, and Baskaran Adhiban.
The rest of Asia is still far from these top two and while unlikely to challenge for the medals, the likes of Vietnam led by Le Quang Liem, Iran with its golden generation now mature, and ex-Soviet republics Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will expect to surprise top teams and perform at a high level.
In the women section, China will again fight their eternal rivals Russia for Gold with hosts Georgia and Ukraine every much also in the mix.
Of course the question being asked is if China’s top ranked woman in Hou Yifan would play for the team.
India will this time around be a medal contender with Koneru Humpy returning to the fold and a team that can include Harika Dronavalli, Eesha Karavade, Tania Sachdev and current and three time national champion Padmini Rout is going to be seriously strong.
