An undefeated Indian teenager rules the Tagaytay chess tournament

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International Master (IM) Harshavardhan GB of India presided over the Asian Junior and Girls Chess Championship held at the Knights Templar Ridge Hotel in Tagaytay City on Friday.

Harshavardhan went to the draw — which the 19-year-old from Chennai needed to win the gold medal — to seal the title with fellow Mongolian IM Sugar Gan-Erdene.

He finished the nine-round event with five wins and four draws with a 7.0 rating, pocketing the gold medal in the tournament that brought together 52 of the best young players from 11 Asian countries.

Harshavardhan, who improved on the bronze medal he won at last year’s Asian Championship in Sri Lanka, said, “I am very happy to have won this tough and prestigious chess tournament.

Among the girls, IM Ngoc Thuy Duong Bach from Thailand won the gold medal with 7.5 points. Indian WIM Ravi Rakshitta (7.0) won silver and Kazakhstan’s Amina Kairbekova (6.0) won bronze in the competition organized by Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

Capturing the title gave Harshavardhan the first of the three criteria required for a player to become a grandmaster. He was an IM only two years ago.

Philippine IM Michael Concio Jr. defeated Indian international IM Saha Nilesh in the silver medal match. Concio, who plays in Dasmariñas, is also undefeated with four wins and five draws with 6.5 points in the Philippine National Chess Federation Vice President Athena Briana Tolentino and Cavite Vice Governor Tournament that opened nine days ago.

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