Asian Championship

BY: BOBBY ANG

(An abridged version of Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 27 May 2011)

2011 Asian Individual Championship
Mashhad, Iran
May 2-10, 2011

Final Top Standings

(in tie-break order)

1-3. GM Penteala Harikrishna IND 2666, GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2646, GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2635, 6.5/9

4-8. GM Rinat Jumabayev KAZ 2558, GM Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2662, GM Krishnan Sasikiran IND 2676, Lu Shanglei CHN 2473, GM Elshan Maradiabadi IRI 2536, 6.0/9

9-12. GM Parimarjan Negi IND 2622, GM Zhao Jun CHN 2574, GM Zhou Weiqi CHN 2610, GM Wesley So PHI 2667, 5.5/9

13-21. IM Oliver Barbosa PHI 2506, GM Anuar Ismagambetov KAZ 2500, GM Wen Yang 2545, GM Surgya Shekhar Ganguly IND 2643, GM Abhijit Kunte IND 2526, GM SP Sethuraman IND 2527, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov UZB 2685, GM John Paul Gomez PHI 2538, GM Cao Sang VIE 2547, 5.0/9

Total of 50 participants

Time Control: 90 minutes for the whole game with 30 seconds increment added after each move starting move 1

There were four (4) qualifying slots available from this tournament to the FIDE World Cup which will be held in August 2011 in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. The top three plus GM Jumabayev (by virtue of his better tie-break points) took these slots.

(Omitted part - rusticbull). Remember the 2009 World Cup where GM Wesley So (in photo) beat Vassily Ivanchuk and Gata Kamsky in mini-matches?

And, by the way, have you noticed that Wesley has shifted his opening repertoire to the French from the Sicilian? He had hardly ever played it before but after beating Kamsky with it in the 2009 World Cup there has been a slow shift from a surprise weapon to a mainstay line. In this tournament Wesley had Black twice against 1.e4 and scored 1.5/2 with the French.

The more interesting game was only a draw, but it did not lack in fighting content.

Negi,Parimarjan (2622) -- So,Wesley (2667) [C11]
ch-Asian Individual Mashhad IRI (9.5), 10.05.2011
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