Chess
Nihal Sarin narrows gap with third straight win at Asian Chess Championship
Indian GM Nihal Sarin scored his third consecutive victory at the Asian Individual Chess Championship but still trails Iranian leader Bardiya Daneshvar heading into the final round.
Nihal Sarin (Photo credit: Romanian Chess Federation)
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin registered his third win in a row at the Asian Individual Chess Championship 2025, but still finds himself a full point behind the tournament leader, Bardiya Daneshvar of Iran, after the conclusion of the penultimate round on Wednesday.
Facing fellow Indian GM S P Sethuraman in Round 8, Sarin showcased fine positional play to seal the win and move to six points. However, Daneshvar maintained his grip on the leaderboard with a clinical victory over Abhimanyu Puranik, taking his tally to seven out of a possible eight points.
With only one round remaining and a likely head-to-head clash between the two front-runners looming, the Iranian remains the favourite to secure the title and the gold medal.
In the women’s section, Mongolia’s Mungunzul Bat-Erdene took a major step towards the championship crown after defeating India’s Srija Seshadri, who had been sharing the top spot. Bat-Erdene now leads with seven points, holding a comfortable one-point advantage over her closest challengers.
Other Indian results saw G B Harshavardhan and Murali Karthikeyan play out a draw, while S L Narayanan continued his steady run by defeating Mukhiddin Madaminov of Uzbekistan.
Vantika Agrawal drew with top-seeded Valentina Gunina in the women’s event, while Padmini Rout and Rakshitta Ravi notched up wins to stay in contention.
