Monday, April 19, 2010

2010 Asian Individual Chess Championships

We must be thankful that Mt. Pinatubo isn't spewing its rage right now, or else, the start of the 2010 Asian Individual Chess Championships in Subic could be as eruptive as the off-the-board psychological warfare in the much publicized World Chess Championship between GM Vishy Anand of India and GM Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, which is being affected by an Icelandic volcanic eruption.

Poor Vishy Anand, his request for a three-day postponement of the match was turned down by the Bulgarian Chess Federation, the host of the event. Anand's reason for the postponement is his being stranded due to the volcanic eruption.

I guess the only acceptable reason for the host to postpone the match is if the event were to be held on top of the erupting volcano!

Based on reports, here are the leading campaigners in this major Asian event:
GM Le Quang Liem (2689)
GM Krishan Sasikiran (2686)
GM Ni Hua (2667)
GM Pentala Harikrishna (2660)
GM Wesley So (2665)
GM Zhou Jianchao (2650)
GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2642)
GM Li Chao (2613)
GM Zhang Zhong (2603)
GM Anton Fillipov (2598)
GM Susanto Megaranto (2527
GM and Dao Thien Hai (2523)
GM Khamrakulov Djubarek (2509)

I'm highly interested to see how our very own GM Wesley So perform in this event vis-a-vis the performance of Vietnam's GM Le Quang Liem. They are the two leading juniors in Southeast Asia right now, and are virtually racing to the be the first Southeast Asian to reach the 2700-Elo mark.

Liem only needs 11 more Elo points to make history. Our local needs 35 more. HOW I WANT THESE YOUNG WARRIORS MEET EACH OTHER ON THE BOARD IN THIS EVENT!!!

But wait, remember that Wesley suffered two losses in last year's Asian Individual Championship. One loss was in the hands of GM Yu Shaoteng and the other loss was against Liem. Last year, Wesley finished the event with 6.5 points, putting him at No.21 in the final rankings. On the other hand, Liem was better at No.5 with 7.5 points.

Can Wesley avenge his loss to Liem this time around?

Another interesting question: Is Vietnam destined to be the next chess powerhouse in Southeast Asia? We will see, we will see . . .

Let's review the final rankings in last year's Asian Individual Championships:

Rk.
NameFEDRtgPts. TB1 TB2
1GMGanguly Surya ShekharIND26258,025462554
2GMZhou WeiqiCHN25638,025052515
3
Yu YangyiCHN24337,525752582
4GMYu ShaotengCHN25047,525702585
5GMLe Quang LiemVIE25917,525452551
6GMAntonio Rogelio JrPHI25187,525292544
7GMHou YifanCHN25907,525252535
8GMZhou JianchaoCHN26357,524992506
9GMSandipan ChandaIND25587,025772587
10GMSasikiran KrishnanIND26827,025282536
11GMKunte AbhijitIND25137,025102526
12GMGupta AbhijeetIND25707,025082514
13GMNegi ParimarjanIND25927,024942502
14GMNguyen Ngoc Truong SonVIE25887,024902497
15GMLi ShilongCHN25577,024892498
16GMKazhgaleyev MurtasKAZ26267,024742481
17GMFilippov AntonUZB25847,024712479
18GMDao Thien HaiVIE25466,525532569
19
Wan YunguoCHN24346,525362556
20IMAl Sayed Moh Mad NQAT24966,525352551
21GMSo WesleyPHI26416,525202527
22GMTorre EugenioPHI25616,525012511
23
Ding LirenCHN24586,025962604
24GMRahman ZiaurBAN25236,025492558
25GMIuldachev SaidaliUZB24976,025482569
26GMMurshed NiazBAN24076,025482554
27IMToufighi HomayoonIRI24786,025472567
28GMMoradiabadi ElshanIRI25266,025432559
29GMTu Hoang ThongVIE25066,025252543
30
Gao RuiCHN25006,025182532
31
Pak EvgeniyKAZ23286,025122524
32
Gundavaa BayarsaikhanMGL24616,025042523
33GMDeepan Chakkravarthy JIND24826,024802497
34GMLaylo DarwinPHI25096,024772488
35GMAl-Modiahki MohamadQAT25856,024642472
36CMNguyen Van HuyVIE24236,024632483
37GMGhaem Maghami EhsanIRI25936,024582463
38GMWang RuiCHN24346,024362446
39GMMegaranto SusantoINA25536,024342440
40
Xiu DeshunCHN24225,525542560
41IMBitoon RichardPHI24795,525322549
42IMHarika DronavalliIND24745,525212550
43FMBatchuluun TsegmedMGL23915,525152521
44FMVidit Santosh GujrathiIND24415,525132530
45GMMahjoob MortezaIRI24985,524952514
46GMBui VinhVIE25225,524742481
47IMNolte RolandoPHI24795,524682486
48GMNguyen Anh DungVIE25185,524502462
49GMHossain EnamulBAN25315,524472453
50GMVillamayor BuenaventuraPHI24745,523962405
51IMIrwanto SadikinINA24475,025442551
52IMDimakiling OliverPHI24265,025372544
53GMGonzales JaysonPHI24655,025322548
54IMAshwin JayaramIND24135,025142534
55IMSadorra Julio CatalinoPHI24515,025112528
56IMNguyen Thanh SonVIE24485,025082528
57FMWahono AwamINA23915,025032513
58
Zhang ZiyangCHN24195,024782493
59GMGomez John PaulPHI25385,024732480
60
Garma EdgardoPHI24215,024702485
61GMParagua MarkPHI25295,024622471
62IMAkshayraj KoreIND24045,024372451
63IMMas HafizulhelmiMAS24255,024142429
64GMKim AlexeyKOR24815,023882396
65
Yang KaiqiCHN24135,023842395
66
Wang LiCHN24014,524982506
67
Lou YipingCHN24104,524812501
68IMHassan AbdullahUAE23224,524792488
69FMPriyadharshan KIND24114,524622479
70
Garcia Jan EmmanuelPHI22924,524472452
71
Yu LieCHN23074,524402444
72FMNovita AnjasINA23454,024842494
73FMAlhuwar JasemUAE22934,024782485
74FMAbu Sufian ShakilBAN23784,024722477
75
Causo DenielPHI23674,024582463
76FMHoang Canh HuanVIE23784,024552469
77
Jia HaoxiangCHN23444,024512460
78
Pascua HaridasPHI23594,024502468
79IMBancod RonaldPHI23564,024462450
80
Olay Edgar ReggiePHI23484,024232461
81CMNguyen Hoang NamVIE22814,023922426
82
Elorta DavidPHI23723,024942508
83IMKhamrakulov DzhurabekUZB25243,024812490
84
Chua AaronMAS21162,024002415
85
Celis Solomon B IiiMAC20071,023882401
86GMDzhumaev MaratUZB25520,000

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