Chennai: R Vaishali won the women’s title Sunday with eight points from nine rounds in the Asian Continental Blitz Chess Championship in Chengdu, China. She was at her best and won seven games and posted two draws.
Vaishali drew her final round game against Uurtsaikh Uuriintuya of Mongolia to finish half-a-point ahead of Iran’s Sarasdat Khademalsharieh and clinch the gold medal. Her compatriot Padmini Rout finished third with seven points after a last round win over Yuxin Song of China.
The Chennai player with an ELO rating of 2203 had finished third in the Asian Championship event Friday.
The other Indians, however, couldn’t make much of an impression with Soumya Swaminathan (5.5 points) taking the 12th spot and Mary Ann Gomes, who finished fourth in the classical format, settling for the 16th spot.
In the open section, Tamil Nadu’s VR Aravind Chithambaram finished fourth with a tally of seven points. He won six games, drew two and lost one.
M R Lalith Babu (6.5 points), Vidit Santhosh Gujrathi (6.5 points) and B Adhiban (6 points) finished seventh, eighth and 10th respectively.
Agencies
