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 Li Shilong of China became the first qualifier when he offered a six move draw with the white pieces which was agreed by Murtas Kazhgaleyev, his Kazakh opponent. Later, Zhang Zhong his Chinese team-mate put it across Darmen Sadvakasov of Kazakhstan in a marathon 96-move battle to earn the qualifying mark. The Asian Championship has turned into a qualifying event for the World Cup to be held next month in Russia. The top ten qualify and the race for the other eight seats will be hot in Saturday's final round.
Li Shilong and Zhang Zhong of China are leading the event at the end of the eighth and penultimate round with 6.5 points. Tied for the third to seventh places with six points are Kazhgaleyev (Kaz), Ni Hua (Chn), Pavel Kotsur (Kaz), Wang Yue (Chn), We Wenjin (Chn). Surya Shekhar Ganguly is tied for the eighth to eleventh places with 5.5 points.
India suffered a big blow when Koneru Humpy lost to Ni Hua in a queen and rooks ending by allowing a mating net in the control time. Humpy was about to win a pawn when a blind spot hit her and allowed Ni Hua to find the mate.
 Sasikiran won finally but it is too late. His tie-break score is also likely to be against him. Ganguly's rook ending victory saw Neelotpal Das losing a chance to qualify. Sundararajan Kidambi held a better position but only drew Wang Hao and will need a draw for his next grand master norm.
Humpy's defeat nearly closed the Indian interest in the event. Now, Ganguly is well placed to qualify but others have only outside chances. Once the ten qualifiers are decided, the Indian interest will move to the Indian sub-continent zonal seat (one). So, the final round will have some action and a few draws on the top boards.
Four players, Li Shilong, Zhang Zhong, Ni Hua and Wang Yue (all China) are the undefeated players so far. It is a tournament dominated by the Chinese.
Vikramjit Singh Triumphs
Vikramjit Singh of South Central Railway won the C.Bapiraju Memorial All India Prize Money FIDE Rating tournament that concluded at Hyderabad on Oct 14. He scored 8/9 and remained undefeated. He picked up a cash prize of Rs.15,000. Originally he hails from
Manipur.
Top placings: 1 Vikramjit Singh
8/9, 2 J.Malleswara Rao 7.5, 3-7 Koneru Chandrahawsa, T.Purushothaman,
M.Srinivasa Rao, P.Lakshmi Sahiti, D.V.Ganesh 7 each, 8-12
M.Y.Raju, R.Aditya Vikas, D.Lakshmanarao, L.Sriharsha,
J.S.S.Phanikanth 6.5 each, 13-20 P.Srinivasa Varma, K.Damodara
Rao, M.Deepthams Reddy, L.V.Shiva Kumar, A.Tej Deep,
Ch. Meharchinna Reddy, P.Satyanarayana, P.V.V.Sheshu 6 each.
I Came For Experience: Harika
 Dronavalli Harika is one of the young talents of the Indian chess. She participated in the Asian Championship at Hyderabad for gaining experience before the World Junior Girls Championship at Turkey which is coming up soon.
"I needed to learn 3-4 new openings and this event gave me that opportunity," said the charming girl from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. She however continues to work with her coach Rama Raju and also with her computer.
After the World Junior she will be taking a gap from chess for writing the tenth standard school final exams. She is financed by her father but is looking for sponsors.
Asked if not playing in the National Women `A' at Bangalore is costing her, she said, "I wanted to be safe and keep out of the AICF politics." Also it was not a selection year for anything and it was worth taking a drop.
She had not delivered in the World U-16 championship where she was the top seed but that does not mean she can be taken easily in the World Junior girls. Under less expectation, Harika could upset the calculations of her rivals.
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