Round 2 of Asian Cities Chess Team Championship Completed in Khanty-Mansiysk

Teams Surgut, Tehran, and Tula are in the lead.

The second round of the Asian Cities Team Championship was played at the Ugra Chess Academy on 22 April.

In the Russian derby, the experienced Surgut team defeated the young players from Moscow with a score of 2.5:1.5. Ilia Iljiushenok beat Stanislav Khudyakov, Aleksei Pridorozhni was stronger than Vasilii Titarov, Nikolai Kabanov lost to Marat Gilfanov, and the game I. Bocharov - D. Kirillov ended in a draw.

Grandmaster Ilia Iljiushenok: “At first the game was not easy: in the opening the opponent tricked me a little. But, apparently, he mixed up something (as he told me after the game), and I began a decisive attack. Then a combination followed, and after that - victory".

Marat Gilfanov also shared his impressions of the game: “I have mixed feelings about today’s game. It seemed equal all the time, then in the endgame I had time trouble, but for some reason my opponent started playing quickly and blundered.”

The men's team of Tehran, Iran, swept Baghdad, Iraq, with a clean score, despite the Tournament’s top-rated player Bardiya Daneshvar not playing for them that day.

The Tula team defeated Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, with a score of 3:1. Daniil Manelyuk and Dmitrij Rodin won their games.

Tehran (8 individual points), Tula (7) and Surgut (6) are leading with 4 match points scored by each.

The women's team of Tehran is in fourth place with 3 match points: in the second round, they beat Kathmandu, Nepal, with a perfect score.

In other matches, Penang, Malaysia, defeated Sukhbaatar, Mongolia, 2.5:1.5, Colombo, Sri Lanka, beat Al Quds, Palestine, 4:0, and the encounter between Al Mahra, Yemen, and Muscat, Oman, ended in a draw.

The Khanty-Mansiysk team had a day off. 

Round 3 pairings:

Tehran (men) – Surgut 
Tehran (women) – Tula 
Moscow – Penang 
Pavlodar – Baghdad 
Colombo – Muscat 
Kathmandu – Al Mahra
Sukhbaatar – Khanty-Mansiysk
Day off – Al Quds

Tournament on Chess-Results

Official website

Photos

Photos: UgraMegaSport