Indians holding on top, Filipinos surging forward
The ninth day of the Asia Continental Chess Championship was very successful for top Filipino contenders for the World Cup qualifying seats. GM Antonio Rogelio Jr vigorously pressed against the young Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem and eventually broke behind the enemy lines to win a point that gave him a clear lead ahead of the rest of the field.
GM Wesley So, playing White against GM Elshan Moradiabadi on board six, transposed from Ruy Lopez into a promising position that resembled the King’s Indian defence, the main difference being that light-squared Bishops were exchanged. This proved to be a very smart decision, as Black lacked one of the most important counter-attacking pieces; the Queen was sitting on h4, but there was no that dangerous Bxh3 blow. (Replayable games on the bottom)
Indian players in the top house, Ganguly, Chanda and Kunte, all drew their games, but Krishnan Sasikiran recovered and won to enter the group of players holding six points each.

GM Antonio Rogelio Jr
Chinese WIM Zhang Xiaowen shows no mercy in the Women Championship as she just beat WGM Swathi Ghate and extended the lead to a full point ahead of Ju Wenjun and WFM Ding Yixin. Ju Wenjun had a tremendous start, but latter series of draws slowed her down.
With kind permission from the Asia Chess Federation, Chessdom.com readers will be able to enjoy live broadcast of top five games from this Championship. The tournament lasts until 23rd May and the games are starting daily at 15:00 local time / 9:00 CET / 3:00 am EST.

WIM Zhang Xiaowen
(photos courtesy of the official tournament gallery)
8th Asian Continental/Individual (Open)
Round 9 results:
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar - GM Zhou Weiqi ½ – ½
GM Hou Yifan - GM Sandipan Chanda ½ – ½
GM Antonio Rogelio Jr - GM Le Quang Liem 1 – 0
GM Kunte Abhijit - GM Yu Shaoteng ½ – ½
GM Sasikiran Krishnan - Ding Liren 1 – 0
GM So Wesley - GM Moradiabadi Elshan 1 – 0
GM Zhou Jianchao - IM Toufighi Homayoon 1 – 0
IM Al Sayed Moh Mad N - GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son ½ – ½
GM Al-Modiahki Mohamad - GM Murshed Niaz ½ – ½
GM Rahman Ziaur - GM Gupta Abhijeet 1 – 0
GM Iuldachev Saidali - GM Torre Eugenio ½ – ½
GM Megaranto Susanto - Yu Yangyi 0 – 1
Xiu Deshun - GM Dao Thien Hai 0 – 1
GM Tu Hoang Thong - GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas ½ – ½
Gao Rui - GM Negi Parimarjan 0 – 1
GM Filippov Anton - GM Mahjoob Morteza 1 – 0
GM Li Shilong - IM Nguyen Thanh Son 1 – 0
IM Harika Dronavalli - GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan ½ – ½
Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan - GM Hossain Enamul 1 – 0
GM Paragua Mark - FM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi ½ – ½
Wan Yunguo - GM Bui Vinh 1 – 0
IM Irwanto Sadikin - GM Nguyen Anh Dung ½ – ½
GM Laylo Darwin - IM Dimakiling Oliver 1 – 0
IM Mas Hafizulhelmi - GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J 0 – 1
FM Batchuluun Tsegmed - IM Bitoon Richard 0 – 1
IM Nolte Rolando - Garma Edgardo 1 – 0
GM Gomez John Paul - Wang Li 1 – 0
GM Villamayor Buenaventura - FM Wahono Awam ½ – ½
GM Gonzales Jayson - FM Abu Sufian Shakil 1 – 0
Causo Deniel - GM Wang Rui ½ – ½
IM Bancod Ronald - IM Ashwin Jayaram 0 – 1
Pak Evgeniy - FM Priyadharshan K 1 – 0
IM Akshayraj Kore - Garcia Jan Emmanuel ½ – ½
Olay Edgar Reggie - GM Kim Alexey 0 – 1
IM Sadorra Julio Catalino - IM Hassan Abdullah ½ – ½
CM Nguyen Hoang Nam - CM Nguyen Van Huy 0 – 1
Zhang Ziyang - FM Alhuwar Jasem 1 – 0
Yu Lie - Lou Yiping ½ – ½
FM Novita Anjas - Yang Kaiqi 0 – 1
Jia Haoxiang - Chua Aaron 1 – 0
FM Hoang Canh Huan - Celis Solomon B Iii 1 – 0
Pascua Haridas - bye 1
Round 10 pairings:
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 6½ - 7 GM Antonio Rogelio Jr
GM Zhou Weiqi 6½ – 6½ GM Sandipan Chanda
GM Hou Yifan 6½ – 6 GM So Wesley
Yu Yangyi 6 – 6 GM Sasikiran Krishnan
GM Dao Thien Hai 6 – 6 GM Zhou Jianchao
GM Yu Shaoteng 6 – 6 GM Rahman Ziaur
GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 5½ – 6 GM Kunte Abhijit
GM Murshed Niaz 5½ - 5½ GM Negi Parimarjan
GM Le Quang Liem 5½ - 5½ GM Iuldachev Saidali
GM Torre Eugenio 5½ – 5½ GM Al-Modiahki Mohamad
Ding Liren 5½ – 5½ GM Filippov Anton
GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J 5 – 5½ IM Al Sayed Moh Mad N
GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 5 – 5 IM Nolte Rolando
GM Gupta Abhijeet 5 - 5 Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan
IM Bitoon Richard 5 - 5 GM Li Shilong
IM Toufighi Homayoon 5 – 5 GM Megaranto Susanto
GM Moradiabadi Elshan 5 – 5 Xiu Deshun
Wan Yunguo 5 – 5 GM Laylo Darwin
GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 4½ – 5 GM Tu Hoang Thong
FM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 4½ – 4½ GM Gomez John Paul
IM Ashwin Jayaram 4½ – 4½ GM Paragua Mark
GM Nguyen Anh Dung 4½ – 4½ Pak Evgeniy
GM Gonzales Jayson 4½ – 4½ Gao Rui
GM Mahjoob Morteza 4½ – 4½ IM Irwanto Sadikin
IM Nguyen Thanh Son 4½ – 4½ IM Harika Dronavalli
GM Hossain Enamul 4 – 4 Garma Edgardo
GM Bui Vinh 4 – 4 Zhang Ziyang
GM Kim Alexey 4 – 4 IM Akshayraj Kore
Garcia Jan Emmanuel 4 – 4 GM Villamayor Buenaventura
GM Wang Rui 4 - 4 Wang Li
IM Dimakiling Oliver 4 – 4 FM Batchuluun Tsegmed
FM Wahono Awam 4 – 4 IM Mas Hafizulhelmi
CM Nguyen Van Huy 4 – 4 Causo Deniel
FM Abu Sufian Shakil 3½ – 3½ IM Sadorra Julio Catalino
Yang Kaiqi 3½ – 3½ Yu Lie
FM Priyadharshan K 3½ – 3½ IM Bancod Ronald
Lou Yiping 3½ – 3½ IM Hassan Abdullah
Olay Edgar Reggie 3 – 3 FM Hoang Canh Huan
FM Alhuwar Jasem 3 – 3 Pascua Haridas
Chua Aaron 2 – 3 CM Nguyen Hoang Nam
Celis Solomon B Iii 1 – 3 Jia Haoxiang
FM Novita Anjas 2½ bye
8th Asian Continental/Individual (Women)
Round 9 results:
WGM Swathi Ghate - WIM Zhang Xiaowen 0 – 1
WGM Huang Qian - Ju Wenjun ½ – ½
WFM Ding Yixin - WGM Gu Xiaobing ½ – ½
WGM Munguntuul Batkhuyag - WFM Tay Li-Jin Jeslin 1 – 0
WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram - WGM Karavade Eesha ½ – ½
WGM Zhang Jilin - WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An ½ – ½
WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman - WGM Mohota Nisha 1 – 0
GM Zhu Chen - IM Tania Sachdev ½ – ½
WIM Pourkashiyan Atousa - WGM Le Thanh Tu 1 – 0
WIM Muminova Nafisa - WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma ½ – ½
WFM Le Thi Phuong Lien - WIM Xu Tong 0 – 1
WIM Bui Kim Le - WFM Camacho Chardine Cheradee 0 – 1
WIM Ghader Pour Shayesteh - Xu Huahua ½ – ½
WFM Dang Bich Ngoc - WGM Nadig Kruttika ½ – ½
Sun Fanghui - WFM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung ½ – ½
WIM Le Kieu Thien Kim - Guo Qi ½ – ½
Wang Xiaohui - Lkhamsuren Uuganbayar 0 – 1
WFM Perena Catherine - WFM Cua Sherily 0 – 1
Salvador Aices - WFM Shamima Akter Liza 1 – 0
Jose Rulp Ylem - WIM Mendoza Beverly 0 – 1
Docena Jedara - WFM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 1 – 0
Bernales Christy Lamiel - Suede Mikee Charlene 1 – 0
Li Panru bye 1
Round 10 pairings:
WIM Zhang Xiaowen 7½ – 6 WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman
WFM Ding Yixin 6½ – 6 WGM Munguntuul Batkhuyag
Ju Wenjun 6½ – 5½ WGM Karavade Eesha
WIM Pourkashiyan Atousa 5½ - 6 WGM Huang Qian
WGM Gu Xiaobing 6 - 5½ WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An
WGM Zhang Jilin 5½ – 5½ WGM Swathi Ghate
WIM Xu Tong 5½ – 5½ WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram
WFM Camacho Chardine Cheradee 5 - 5 GM Zhu Chen
IM Tania Sachdev 5 – 5 WIM Muminova Nafisa
WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma 5 - 5 WFM Tay Li-Jin Jeslin
WGM Le Thanh Tu 4½ - 4½ WFM Cua Sherily
WGM Mohota Nisha 4½ – 4½ Xu Huahua
Lkhamsuren Uuganbayar 4½ – 4½ WIM Ghader Pour Shayesteh
WGM Nadig Kruttika 4 – 4 Salvador Aices
WFM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung 4 - 4 WFM Dang Bich Ngoc
WIM Bui Kim Le 4 - 4 WIM Le Kieu Thien Kim
Guo Qi 4 – 4 WFM Le Thi Phuong Lien
Wang Xiaohui 3½ – 4 Sun Fanghui
WIM Mendoza Beverly 3½ – 3½ Bernales Christy Lamiel
WFM Shamima Akter Liza 3 - 3½ Docena Jedara
WFM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 2½ – 3 Li Panru
Suede Mikee Charlene 2 – 3 Jose Rulp Ylem
WFM Perena Catherine 3 bye