Orissa players fail to impress
Chennai: GM Vidit Gujrathi and R Vaishali settled for third spot in the Open and women’s sections after the ninth and final round Saturday of the Asian Chess Championship in Chengdu, China.
Gujrathi, with an ELO rating of 2687, drew with Yangi Yu of China in his final game to finish with 6.5 points. China’s GM Wang Hao took the top spot with seven points and was followed by Bu Xiangzhi.
Gujrathi had moved to the top spot after the eighth round Friday, but a draw in the final round put paid to his title aspirations and he had to settle for the bronze medal.
B Adhiban ended the tournament in eighth place, logging six points and was followed by fellow Indian Surya Shekhar Ganguly, also on the same number of points. They were followed by SP Sethuraman in 11th place with 5.5 points and Deep Sengupta in 13th spot.
In the women’s event, Vaishali, with 6.5 points, secured the third spot behind Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Phung (7.5 points) and Uzbekistan’s Nakhbayeva Guliskhan (seven points).
In her last round game Vaishali (ELO rating 2272) posted an impressive win with black pieces over Ngueyen Thi Thanh An of Vietnam.
Vaishali’s compatriot Mary Ann Gomes finished fourth, with a score of six points. Among the other Indians, Padmini Rout and WGM Swati Ghate finished seventh and eighth respectively. Orissa’s Kiran Monisha Mohanty finished 13th with 5.5 points.
PTI
