Chess: India wins Asian Games Gold, China gets Silver, Iran Bronze

India drew with Kazakhstan to tally 22.5 points for the gold, a full 5 points ahead of China who beat Bangladesh 2:1 for 17.5 points and the silver medal. Iran shocked Qatar 3:0 to jump to third place with 16.5 points and grab the bronze medal. It was a heartbreaking loss for the host who were running third going into the last round.

Last game to finish was on top board between GM Mohammed Al Mohdiaki of Qatar and GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran. Everyone was watching intently as Kazakhstan and Indonesia had 16 points each.

Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhtan had beaten Pentala Harikrishna of India as the other two boards were drawn. Kazakhstan was gunning for the bronze with 16 points.

Similarly, Indonesia had beaten Uzbekistan 2.5:0.5 to climb to 16 points and hope for third place. Indonesia`s Utut Adianto held former world champion Rustam Kasimjanov to a draw as the other two Indonesians scored full points.

But GM Ehsan Maghami maneuvered in a Bishop and pawn endgame to beat GM Al Mohdiaki. First to lose for Qatar was Mohammad Al Sayed who had a completely won game against Moradiabadi of Iran. Then Atousa Purkashian won a piece in a pretty combination against Zhu Chen.

Final Ranking

+ = - Pts. BH. MP
1 India 8 1 0 22.5 134.5 17
2 China 6 1 2 17.5 140 13
3 Iran 4 3 2 16.5 140 11
4 Kazakhstan 5 2 2 16 135.5 12
5 Indonesia 4 2 3 16 134.5 10
6 Qatar 5 0 4 15 140.5 10
7 Bangladesh 4 2 3 14.5 126 10
8 Philippines 2 4 3 14.5 110 8
9 Uzbekistan 4 1 4 14 140 9
10 Mongolia 4 1 4 14 123.5 9
11 Turkmenistan 4 1 4 13.5 131.5 9
12 Syria 4 2 3 13.5 112 10
13 SriLanka 4 1 4 13 87.5 9
14 United Arab Emirates 3 3 3 12.5 107.5 9
15 Jordan 3 3 3 12.5 104 9
16 Vietnam 4 1 4 12 129.5 9
17 Bahrain 4 1 4 11.5 90 9
18 Palestine 2 3 4 11 88.5 7
19 Japan 3 2 4 10.5 91.5 8
20 Nepal 4 0 5 10 91 8
21 Macau 1 0 8 3 98 2

by FIDE