Defending champion Srinath Narayanan of India and Charlene Mikee Suede of the Philippines won the Asian Juniors and Girls Championships, respectively, held 28 November to 5 December 2014 in Tagaytay City, Philippines. Naranyan, the defending Asian junior champion, was way above the field as he retained his crown without a doubt, beating back strong opposition from Asian under-18 champion IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia and FM Paulo Bersamina, both of the Philippines, to finish with a convincing 8 points in the 9-round Swiss. Bersamina won the silver medal with 7 points followed by Garcia with 6.5 points for the bronze medal.
Suede came from behind after losing to compatriot Jerlyn Mae San Diego, the youngest participant, in the first round. She bounced back with a draw in the second round then scored four straight wins to tie for the lead. She won the crucial 7th round game against 2012 Asian Girls champion Ivana Maria Furtado of India and got her revenge against San Diego sister Marie Antoinette in the penultimate round. She won in the 9th round to finish alone with 7.5 points.
WFM J. Saranya placed second with 6.5 points followed by WIM Ivana Maria Furtado with 6 points. Also tied with 6 points but losing in the tie break was WFM Sholpan Zhyulkaidarova of Kazakhstan.
On top the winners’ stand are girls gold medalist Charlene Mikee Suede of the Philippines and junior gold medalist Srinath Narayanan of India in the Asian Juniors and Girls Chess Championships in Tagaytay City. From left are GM Eugene Torre, Tagaytay City Mayor Agnes Tolentino, bronze medalist Ivana Maria Furtado and silver medalist J. Saranya of India, Suede, Narayanan, silver medalist Paulo Bersamina and bronze medalist Jan Emmanuel Garcia of the Philippines, FIDE Secretary General Abraham N. Tolentino and Asian Chess Federation Executive Director Casto Abundo.
All participants at the opening of the Asian Juniors and Girls championships with host FIDE Secretary General Abraham Tolentino. Seated are previous champions IM Srinath Narayanan and WIM Ivana Maria Furtado, both of India.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Well done.