Stunning upset

Adhiban stuns Wesley So in Asian Individual Chess
PTI | May 6, 2011, 10.23am IST

MASHHAD (IRAN): Grandmaster B Adhiban of India crashed through the defenses of ace Filipino Wesley So in the fourth round to occupy the joint third position in the Asian Individual Chess championship.

After a sedate start, Adhiban rose in contention for a place in the next World Cup with a masterly display that left his higher ranked opponent shocked.

The victory meant Adhiban is just half a point behind the leaders.

At the top of the tables, Grandmaster P Harikrishna played out a draw with Bu Xiangzhi of China to also inch to three points.

With 3.5 points, Xiangzhi was joined at the top by compatriot Yu Yangyi. The two Chinese will now clash against each other in the next round.

Another Indian in fray, Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi put aside his previous round loss against Xiangzhi and bounced back to beat Wen Yang of China.

Negi and Krishnan Sasikiran, who was held to a draw by Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan, are also amongst those who have three points in their kitty.

The Indian challenge, however, suffered a serious setback in the women's section when top seed D Harika went down to Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia.

More here.

Asian individual championship starts

Asian Individual Championships Starts in Iran
Sunday, 01 May 2011 22:55

The 10th Asian Continental Individual Championship reeled off today in Mashad, Iran with 28 Grandmasters and 11 Women Grandmasters leading the field of the Open and Women's Championship, respectively. See chess-results.com for Open and Women's results. Watch top games live on the Asian Chess Federation site.

Harika Dronavalli (2524) from India and former World Champion Rustam Kasimjanov (2687) from Uzbekistan are top rated among the currently registered players.

Mashhad is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world.

It is located 850 kilometers (530 mi) east of Tehran, close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its population was 2,427,316 at the 2006 population census.

Tournament website / Regulations

Greetings

To the participants of the 10th Asian Individual Chess Championships

Dear friends!
I am pleased to warmly welcome you to the 10th Asian Individual Chess Championships, which will be held in Mashhad, the holy, historic and touristic city in the North-East of Iran.

It is very important that such a great continental chess event is returning to Iran, the country which is known as the chess cradle and I am confident that Mashhad will be a good host for the Grand Masters and chess players from all over the Asia and Oceania.

This year we will organize the first Asian Individual Blitz Championships beside the main tournaments and we hope it would help in developing and popularizing of our beloved game.

I wish all the participants a nice stay in Mashhad, success in achieving great results and the best of luck.

Mohammad Jafar Kambouzia
Vice-president of FIDE &
President of the Iran Chess Federation

10th Asian Continental Individual Championship

10th Asian Continental Individual Championship
1st to 11th May at the Hotel Pardisan, in Mashhad, Iran

The 10th Asian Continental Individual Championship and First Asian Individual Blitz Championship (Open and Women's) are scheduled to take place from 1st to 11th May at the Hotel Pardisan, in Mashhad, Iran. Members of all FIDE Affiliated Chess Federations in Asia, Zones 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 are eligible to take participation.

Harika Dronavalli (2524) from India and former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2687) from Uzbekistan are top rated among the currently registered players.

Mashhad is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world.

It is located 850 kilometers (530 mi) east of Tehran, close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its population was 2,427,316 at the 2006 population census.

The city benefits from the proximity of the mountains, having cool winters, pleasant springs, mild summers, and beautiful autumns. It is only about 250 km (156 miles) from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Official website

RULES & REGULATIONS

1. ELIGIBILITY & PARTICIPATION

1.1 Each Federation from FIDE Zones 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 can enter one official player in the Open and one official player in the Women’s Division.

1.2 In addition, each Federation may send extra players rated 2300 and above for the Open, and 2000 and above for Women based on the March 2011 FIDE Rating List. Extra players will be responsible for the payment of their board and lodging at the official hotel. Exceptions for the rating floor may be made by the Continental President on request of national federations.

2. PLAYING CONDITIONS

The tournament shall be conducted as a Swiss System competition of 9 or 11 rounds and will be played according to FIDE regulations. If the players are 64 or less, it will be organized in 9 rounds and if more than 64 it will be in 11 rounds.

The tournament will be played according to FIDE regulations. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The games shall be played with DGT clocks. Pairings will be made by Swiss Manager Program Draw offers are not allowed before Black’s 30th move.

The blitz competition will be organized in 11 round Swiss System for players under the same conditions as the main tournament. Time control will be 3 minutes and 2 second increment per move.