Australia, India Clinch Asian Nations Cup Titles
Australia won the 2020 Asian Nations Cup on Sunday after beating India 4.5-3.5 in the final. India convincingly won the women's section, scoring 6-2 vs. Indonesia in the final.
Almost all events in 2020 are being played online, and the Asian Nations Cup was one of them. The tournament, held in cooperation with FIDE, ran October 10-25, 2020 on Chess.com with games played at 15 minutes plus a five-second increment by teams of four players.
The tournament started with a nine-round Swiss, and the top eight teams qualified for the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, each duel was played over two matches with colors reversed. The total prize fund was $20,000.
The broadcast of the final day.
It was a fairly big event with a total of 38 teams in the open section and 31 in the women's section. Among the titled players were 29 GMs, 37 IMs, and 10 WGMs.
In the playoffs in the open section were Iran, Philippines, Mongolia, Australia, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, and Singapore. No team managed to avoid at least one loss.
Asian Nations Cup | Swiss Final Standings (Top 10)
| # | SNo | Fed | Team | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | 3 | Iran | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 25,0 | |
| 2 | 4 | Philippines | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 24,0 | |
| 3 | 9 | Mongolia | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 24,0 | |
| 4 | 6 | Australia | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 23,5 | |
| 5 | 8 | Indonesia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 25,0 | |
| 6 | 1 | India | 4 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 24,5 | |
| 7 | 2 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 24,0 | |
| 8 | 7 | Singapore | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 21,5 | |
| 9 | 16 | Tajikstan | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 21,5 | |
| 10 | 5 | Bangladesh | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 20,5 |
(Complete final standings here.)
Australia defeated Indonesia in the quarterfinals, then Iran in the semis, followed by a narrow win against India in the final: 2.5-1.5 in the first match, followed by 2-2 in the second. The first prize was $5,000.
GM Anton Smirnov was the MVP for the winning team as he scored a splendid 5/6 in the playoffs. On board one, he won his white game against GM Adhiban Baskaran as the latter mistakenly allowed a transition into a pawn endgame:
All playoff games
In the playoffs in the women's section were India, Philippines, Iran, Vietnam, Mongolia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Kyrgyzstan. Here, India dominated the Swiss with eight victories and just one loss, to Iran.
Asian Nations Cup (Women) | Swiss Final Standings (Top 10)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Team | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | 1 | India | 8 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 26,5 | |
| 2 | 7 | Philippines | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 25,0 | |
| 3 | 6 | Iran | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 23,5 | |
| 4 | 5 | Vietnam | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 24,5 | |
| 5 | 8 | Mongolia | 4 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 24,0 | |
| 6 | 2 | Indonesia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 20,0 | |
| 7 | 18 | Sri Lanka | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 21,5 | |
| 8 | 15 | Kyrgyzstan | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 20,5 | |
| 9 | 4 | Australia | 5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 22,5 | |
| 10 | 3 | Kazakhstan | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 22,0 |
(Complete final standings here.)
India defeated Kyrgyzstan in the quarterfinals and then Mongolia in the semis, followed by a convincing win against Indonesia in the final. The first prize was $2,000.
A nice game from the first match of the final was IM Padmini Rout's victory vs. IM Medina Aulia:
All playoff games
The Asian Nations Cup was a team tournament for all FIDE-affiliated chess federations in Asia as well as Oceania. Each team could consist of a total of five players and one team captain.
In case of a tie, matches would be decided by "direct encounter board count" (Berlin System) where a win would be worth four points on board one, three points on board two, two points on board three, and one point on board four.
Won the Online Asian Nations Cup with my super cool team!🥇❤️🔥 @chessvaishali @Bhaktichess @NandhidhaaPV Captain Mary Ann! #AsianNationsCup #chess pic.twitter.com/ThAwZNl1GI
— Padmíní Rout (@acciochess) October 25, 2020
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