Asian Zone 3.5 Chess Championships
Bu Xiangzhi and Li Chao B qualify, Ju Wenjun and Shen Yang sharing first in women’s event
Asian Zone 3.5 Chess Championships were held from 20th to 28th March in Tianjin, China. The Men’s tournament is a qualifier for the 2011 World Chess Cup and top two finishers book tickets for Khanty-Mansiysk. 55 players competed in the 9-round Swiss tournament.
Last round top games all ended in draws, granting the Grandmasters Bu Xiangzhi and Li Chao B first two places, with seven points each. GM Zhou Jianchao and the most pleasant surprise Lu Shanglei shared the third with 6.5 points.
Women’s tournament took place concurrently and is a qualification for the 2012 Women World Championship. 32 participants competed over 9 rounds of Swiss system. Top four finishers progress in the World Championship cycle.
Reigning China champion Ju Wenjun and second-seed Shen Yang are joint winners with 7.0 points each.
Final standings (women):
1-2. WGM Ju Wenjun 2519 and WGM Shen Yang 2443 – 7.0
3. WGM Huang Qian 2394 – 6.5
4-5. WGM Wang Yu A. 2398 and WGM Gu Xiaobing 2369 – 6.0
6-9. Wang Doudou 2182, WF Zhai Mo 2136, WGM Ding Yixin 2376 and WGM Zhang Xiaowen 2344 – 5.5
10-14. Guo Qi 2331, WGM Tan Zhongyi 2428, Wang Jue 2275, Ni Shiqun and Xu Huahua 2139 – 5.0 etc
The Chinese Chess Championships 2011 start from 29th March in Xinghua, Jiangsu, and continue until 10th April.
Bu rocks!