Earlier this week, two Indian chess masters dominated the Asian Continental Chess Championship. Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa smashed through his opponents and seized the championship title in the Open category on November 3rd. Further adding to the pride of India, Grandmaster P V Nandhidhaa on her finest victory at the championship and won the women's category with triumph.
Colossal Victory for India's Best Players
The Asian Continental Open Chess Championship 2022 was hosted in New Delhi, India, from October 26th to November 3rd. All India Chess Federation organised the championship on behalf of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE. The tournament utilised a nine-round Swiss format and featured master players from around the world competing for the title.
The two young grandmasters beat their way to the top in two categories, Open and Women's, giving India its colossal win.
The tournament was filled with nail-biting moves and plays from grandmasters as they battled for the top prize. India won gold in the Open category for the first time in six years. The gold medal for the same category was previously won by GM Sethuraman S P in 2016, after which it was R Praggnanandhaa who brought the medal home for his country this year.
Praggnanandhaa Leaves his Opponents in the Dust
This year, GM R Praggnanandhaa placed first, while according to tie-breaks, GM Harsha Bharathakoti and GM B Adhiban finished second and third, respectively. Fourth place went to GM S L Narayanan. All four players have qualified to compete in the FIDE World Cup in the upcoming year. In the top 15 finishers this year, there was only one non-Indian player, and in the top 20, there were only three. The rest were all Indian, demonstrating India's exceptional performance at the championship.
Praggnanandhaa called a draw with compatriot B Adhiban after 63 moves in the ninth and final round with a half-point lead. He won by an unbeaten score of 7/9 and went home with $7000 in winnings.
Clean and Ruthless Sweep for P V Nandhidhaa
In the women's event, WGM P V Nandhidhaa finished with 7.5/9 points after drawing with Divya Deshmukh in the ninth round. Tamil Nadu's 26-year-old player stayed unbeaten throughout all nine rounds in her category, winning a $6000 title. Priyanka Nutakki won silver, and Divya Deshmukh won bronze. Thi Kim Phung Vo was placed fourth in this category.
WGM Nandhidhaa is a Woman International Master in addition to her FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster. She is also the 17th woman grandmaster in India. Following a fierce and merciless attack that left her opponents in shambles, Nandhidhaa won the biggest title of her professional career by a one-point margin over her competitors.
India's Grandmasters Win Big
One of the most exciting matches in this championship was between Praggnanandhaa and GM Karthikeyan Murali, which lasted over 6 hours with 137 moves. The game demonstrated Praggnanandhaa's modifying and adapting style, inspired by Carlsen's endgame grind. It brought about Murali's physical and psychological collapse.
It's no secret that the 17-year-old from Chennai is more than just a chess prodigy, earning the international master title at the tender age of 10 and the grandmaster title at 12. He's on his way to making history as he grows in the chess ranking. With his recent hat-trick win against the world champion early this year, he is nothing short of a rising star in both Indian and international chess.
The championship also saw the advancement of multiple players. Indians M. Pranesh and Koustav Chatterjee achieved the Grandmaster norms along with Viani Antonio D'cunha and Turkmenistan's Saparmyrat Atabaeyev. The International Master norms were also earned by Indians Sambit Panda, Aaryan Varshney, and Ayush Sharma, among others.
Along with the two Indian champions of the regular swiss-style categories, Divya Deshmukh and Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan won the Women's and Open categories in the Asian Blitz games, respectively.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, this year's championship showcased India's best chess masters. This championship has seen India's best players reach new heights in the chess rankings. The tournament was nothing short of a monumental achievement for our young chess masters, repeatedly establishing themselves as formidable forces in competitive chess. There is no doubt that the upcoming FIDE world cup next year will be an exciting event for our grandmasters.