VS Rahul (2387) of India drew with Orini Gholami of Iran in the final round of the Asian Junior Chess Championship to score 7 ½ points out of 9 games, win the title and complete a GM norm. Rahul turned in an excellent performance, leading from start to finish without a single defeat. He beat Kosala Amarathunga, Isara Dhahanayake, Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage all three from Sri Lanka and three Indian IMs: Vardaan Nagpal, GB Harshawardana and Mitrabha Guha.
After a poor start, the top seed, IM Mitrabha Guha (pictured below), bounced back to climb to second place with 7 points, while IM GB Harshawardhana became third with 6½ points.
Final standings open:
1 | Raahul V S | IND | 2387 | 7½ | |
2 | IM | Mitrabha Guha | IND | 2509 | 7 |
3 | IM | Harshavardhan G B | IND | 2397 | 6½ |
4 | IM | Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari | IND | 2448 | 6 |
5 | Gholami Orimi Mahdi | IRI | 2425 | 6 | |
6 | IM | Vardaan Nagpal | IND | 2384 | 6 |
7 | FM | Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan | SRI | 2300 | 6 |
8 | FM | De Silva L M S T | SRI | 2131 | 5½ |
9 | Induwara T H D Thisarindu | SRI | 1359 | 5½ | |
10 | FM | Piyumantha M Sasith Nipun | SRI | 2214 | 5 |
The complete results can be found here
Despite losing her top position in the penultimate round of the girls’ tournament, WIM Shri Savitha of India drew her last game with Chanindi Mewna Attanayake of Sri Lanka to earn the championship title and a beautiful trophy, completing the WGM norm along the way. She scored 7 points with five wins over Gimashi Weeratunghe, Niklesha Tharushi, Oshini Gunawardena of Sri Lanka, Al Maamari of UAE and WIM, K Priyanka of India and four draws.
Priyanka K caught up with the leader in the penultimate round but somewhat unexpectedly lost to much lower-rated Tharushi T H D Niklesha to finish a half-point behind the champion, tying for second place with Anoush Mahdian. Nevertheless, Buchholz favoured Priyanka, who took silver.
Final standings girls:
1 | WIM | Savitha Shri B | IND | 2281 | 7 |
2 | WIM | Priyanka K | IND | 2218 | 6½ |
3 | WFM | Mahdian Anousha | IRI | 2212 | 6½ |
4 | Mohammadi Melika | IRI | 1807 | 6 | |
5 | WCM | Sanudula K M Dahamdi | SRI | 1653 | 5½ |
6 | WFM | Al Maamari Wafia Darwish | UAE | 1923 | 5½ |
7 | Attanayake Chanindi Mewna | SRI | 1317 | 5½ | |
8 | WCM | Tharushi T H D Niklesha | SRI | 1711 | 5½ |
9 | Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini | SRI | 1371 | 5 | |
10 | Newansa M Esandi | SRI | 1163 | 5 |
The complete results can be found here.
The Asian Junior Chess Championships 2021, the only OTB event conducted by the Asian Chess Federation this year, was organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka. A total of 54 players, 32 in the open and 22 in the girls’ section, took place in the event running from December 17-23 at Citrus Hotel, Waskaduwa. Both championships were 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control.
The Awards Ceremony was held under the patronage of Mr Luxman Wijesuriya, the President of CFSL and a Vice President of Asian Chess Federation, where Mr Hisham Al Taher, the General Secretary of Asian Chess Federation and Mr Casto Abundo, the Executive Director of Asian Chess Federation address the audience virtually.
The live games can be seen via the following link:
Asian Girls Chess Championship 2021:
https://view.livechesscloud.com#1d2fce85-a004-410d-93e5-a485328ef4dd
Asian Juniors Chess Championship 2021:
https://view.livechesscloud.com#5b19c578-e00f-4e8d-b77e-ccf6c5e56f4f
