Asian Continental

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 10 May 2010)

The 9th Asian Continental took place from April 20-30, 2010, in the Subic Bay Free Port, Olongapo City. Ni Hua won with 7/9 half a point ahead of Wesley So, Abhijeet Gupta, Jianchao Zhou and Le Quang Liem.

Final Top Standings
1 GM Ni Hua CHN 2667, 7.0/9
2-5 GM Wesley So PHI 2665, GM Abhijeet Gupta IND 2560, GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2650, GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2689, 6.5/9
6-12 GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2574, Zeng Chongsheng CHN 2350, GM Ding Liren CHN 2565, GM Li Chao CHN 2613, Wan Yunguo CHN 2424, IM SP Sethuraman IND 2493, GM Zhou Weiqi CHN 2584, 6.0/9

Total of 90 players

The organizers failed to post a bulletin for GM/IM results earned so I asked one of my friends, Emir Gamis (better known as "pulsar" on the Web) to do a few computations, and here is the list he came up with:

GM NORM
Zeng Chongsheng CHN 2350
Yu Ruiyuan CHN 2309

IM NORM
FM Asghar Golizadeh IRI 2454
Wan Yunguo CHN 2424
FM Jan Emmanuel Garcia PHI 2315
Wang Li CHN 2383
FM Namkhai Battulga MGL 2357
Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa MGL 2471
Pouria Darini IRI 2398
Lu Shanglei CHN 2340

These 10 norm-takers are covered by the recent rule revision that, as an incentive for participation in a continental championship, a norm earned there is equivalent to a 20-game norm.

What does that mean? Well, to get a title (either GM or IM), you must have played at least 27 games and earned a pre-determined number of points. By a 20-game norm that means that although you only played 9 games this is considered 20; essentially equivalent to doubling the benefit. For Jan Emmanuel Garcia (in photo), a 14-year old student in the 3rd year of Ateneo de Manila High School, all he needs now is another IM norm, get his ELO rating above 2400, and the title is his.

Jem Garcia kicked off his IM-quest with a dream start -- he defeated a 2600+ rated GM in brilliant fashion. Black in the following game was formerly the top player of China who now represents Singapore. He has a lot of achievements in his curriculum vitae, but perhaps the results which stand out are: (1) two silver medal finishes in World Junior Competition (1996 and 1998), (2) 2005 Asian Champion, and (3) winning the Corus "B" competition in 2003 a full three (3!) points ahead of his nearest competitor.

Garcia, Jan Emmanuel (2315) -- Zhang Zhong (2603) [A25]
9th Asian Continental Championship Subic Bay Free Port (2.20), 22.04.2010
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Jem, if you are reading this column, clip this out of BusinessWorld, frame it and put it on your wall. Let it be recorded that today, May 10, 2010, I predicted that you will soon be an International Grandmaster.