Indian player tops Asian Junior Chess Championship

A player from Chennai, India topped the Asian Juniors Chess Championship that ended on Friday, November 25, at the Knights Templar Ridge Hotel in Tagaytay City.

Needing just a draw to seal the title, International Master (IM) Harshavardhan G B split the points with IM Sugar Gan-Erdene of Mongolia in the ninth and final round of the Swiss system tournament.

Harshavardhan went unbeaten with 7.0 points on five victories and four draws to pocket the gold medal. By topping the tournament, he also received the first of the three norms required to earn the rank of grandmaster.

“I am so very happy winning this tough and prestigious chess tournament,” said Harshavardhan, who won the bronze at the 2021 Asian Juniors Chess Championship in Sri Lanka.

IM Michael Concio Jr. of the Philippines, meanwhile, defeated IM Saha Neelash of India in the final round to claim the silver medal.

Concio, the pride of Dasmariñas City, also finished unbeaten with 6.5 points on four victories and five draws.

Gan-Erdene, on the other hand, scored 6.0 points along with four other players but bagged the bronze after the tie-break was applied.

Also with 6.0 points are fourth placer Chatterjee Utsab of India, fifth placer Eric Labog Jr. of the Philippines, sixth placer IM Raahul V S of India and seventh placer Fide Master Arman Hakemi of Iran.

Labog, who loss to Harshavardhan in the eighth round, got a consolation prize as he earned an International Master title after breaking the Elo 2200 barrier.

Completing the top 10 with 5.5 points each are IM Saha Neelash of India, Fide Master Daniyal Sapenov of Kazakhstan and National Master Mark Jay Bacojo of the Philippines in that order.

In the girls section, Woman International Master Ngoc Thuy Duong Bach of Thailand (7.5 points) won the gold, followed by silver medalist Woman International Master Ravi Rakshitta of India (7.0 points) and bronze medalist Woman International Master Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (6.0 points).