Manila: Filipino International Master (IM) Michael Concio Jr. defeated FIDE Master (FM) Arjun Adireddy of India to gain a share of the lead in the sixth round of the 2024 Asian Juniors and Girls Chess Championships at the Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay City, Cavite on Thursday. Concio, who reached the World Chess Cup in 2021 after placing second to compatriot Grandmaster (GM) Daniel Quizon in the Asian Zonals the World Chess Cup in 2021, prevailed after 32 moves of the Ruy Lopez. With four wins in six games, Concio has five points to join top seed GM Aleksey Grebnev of Russia, and No. 7 IM Munkhdalai Amilal of Mongolia on top of the standings. His two draws were against Grebnev and No. 4 IM Artem Uskov, also from Russia. Grebnev beat Uskov after 51 moves of the Catalan, while Amilal conquered Candidate Master (CM) Yash Bharadia of India in 40 moves of the Sicilian. Uskov is in solo second with 4.5 points, followed by No. 3 IM S. Aswath of India, Concio's seventh-round opponents, and No. 12 Filipino FM Gian Karlo Arca with four points. Aswath prevailed over David Sean Romualdez of the Philippines, while Arca settled for a draw with compatriot Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa. In the girls' division, defending champion and top seed WIM G. Tejawisni of India outplayed unbeaten WIM Anna Shukhman of Russia. Despite the loss, Shukhman kept the lead with five points. Tejaswinji is second with 4.5 points in a tie with her compatriot, No. 6 H. Sneha, who trounced ACM Ainul Afif Mohd of Malaysia. WFM Kristina Popandopalu of Kazakhstan defeated WFM V. Rindhiya of India for joint third with Mohd at four points. In other results, World Youth Championship-bound Jemaicah Yap Mendoza upset No. 7 WFM Gupta Shubi of India; Arleah Cassandra Sapuan beat Pin-I Chen of Taipei; Apple Rubin downed Natalia Gu of HongKong; and Elle Castronuevo drew with Lu Jie Xin of Taipei. Source: Philippines News agency
Friday, October 18, 2024