India sweep the board with double win
The India ‘B’ chess team won the Open title while India ‘A’ dominated the Girls’ segment at the Under-14 Online Asian Nations Cup 2022 which ended last weekend.
India ‘B’ shared 16 match points with Philippines ‘A’ in the decisive round, but with a better tiebreaker, they easily secured the Open title. India ‘B’ beat Hong Kong (3½-1½), Malaysia (2½-1½), Philippine Knights (4-0), Singapore Open 1 (2½-1½), Mongolia (3-1), Singapore Open 2 (3½ -½) while drawing against Philippines ‘A’ and India ‘A’.
Philippines also scored 16 points in Open section but had to satisfy with the silver medal on a weaker tiebreaker. Philippines ‘A’ beat Sri Lanka ‘C’ (2½-1½), New Zealand (3-1), Thailand (4-0), Singapore 1 (3-1), India ‘A’ (2½-1½), Philippine Knights (2½-1½) and Sri Lanka ‘B’ (3-1) while recording draws against India ‘B’ and Malaysia ‘A’ to secure the silver medal.
India ‘A’ also had a successful run, but had to settle down at third place in points with 17 match points on the board. However, they were not eligible to claim the bronze medal according to the tournament regulations, where a country can win only one medal. As a result, the Singapore ‘A’ team had the opportunity to claim the bronze medal with 11 match points. Philippines Knight also scored 22 points. Singapore recorded wins against Bahrain (4-0), Mongolia (3-1), Malaysia ‘B’ (4-0), Sri Lanka ‘A’ (3-1), Hong Kong (2½-1½) and drew with Malaysia ‘A’ (2-2) to earn 11 match points. They lost three matches on the way, against India ‘A’ (3½-½), India ‘B’ (2½-1½) and Philippines ‘A’ (3-1)
India ‘A’ dominated the Girls’ event just conceding a draw to Mongolian Girls, scoring 17 match points out of possible 18. They beat Sri Lanka Reds (3-1), Hong Kong (4-0), New Zealand Girls (4-0), Singapore Girls 1 (4-0), Malaysia (2½-1½), Team Philippines (3-1), India ‘B’ (3½-½) and Sri Lanka Greens (4-0) to rake up 17 points and win the title easily.
Singapore Girls’ ‘A’ and Mongolian Girls both scored 14 match points each out of 18 but, Singapore won the silver medal with a better tiebreaker. Singapore Girls’ ‘A’ beat Singapore Girls 2 (3-1), India ‘B’ (2½-1½), Sri Lanka Green (4-0), Malaysia ‘A’ (2½-1½) Sri Lanka Reds (4-0) and New Zealand (4-0).
Mongolian Girls had to satisfy with the third position, recording scoring wins against Hong Kong (3-1), New Zealand (3-1), Sri Lanka Reds (3-1), Sri Lanka Blues (2½-1½), Philippines Girls (3-1), and drew with Singapore Girls (2-2) and India ‘A’ (2-2) to win the bronze medal. Their only loss came against the Malaysia ‘A’ team.
The Open and Girls’ Online Asian Nations Cup 2022 for Under-14s, was conducted by the Asian Chess Federation and was organised by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka. The competition was held from March 25 to 27 on the Tornelo platform. a total of 33 teams from 12 countries, namely Bahrain, Hong Kong, India, Maldives, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the UAE and Sri Lanka participated. The event was held on a rapid time control of 15 minutes with an increment of 10 seconds, and was played according to the Swiss System for teams in nine rounds as Open and Girls. The virtual awards ceremony was held last Tuesday.