The Asian Individual Chess Championship is currently underway in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. In the open section, Bangladesh’s International Master and reigning national champion, Monon Reza Neer, held Iranian Grandmaster Pouya Idani (rated 2630) to a draw in the eighth round on Tuesday night. Despite the impressive result, Neer will not be able to secure the much-coveted Grandmaster (GM) norm from this tournament.
To earn a GM norm in a nine-round tournament, a player must achieve a performance rating of 2600 or higher. Following the draw with Idani, Neer’s performance rating stands at 2528. Even if he defeats a Chinese Grandmaster in the final round, it won’t be enough to push his rating above the required threshold. The Bangladesh Chess Federation has confirmed that a GM norm is now mathematically out of reach for Neer in this event.
Neer started the tournament in fine form, defeating a Grandmaster from Singapore in the opening round and holding a Kazakh Grandmaster to a draw in the fourth round. By that point, his performance rating had crossed the 2600 mark. However, in the subsequent rounds, he failed to secure wins against lower-rated International Masters, drawing some games and losing one, which caused both his rating and points tally to drop. Typically, to achieve a GM norm in a nine-round format, a player needs at least 5.5 points and a 2600+ performance rating. Neer currently has 4 points from 8 games.
In Tuesday’s game, Neer played with the white pieces and drew against GM Pouya Idani in 38 moves using the Sicilian Defense.
Two other Bangladeshi players, FIDE Masters Tahsin Tajwar Zia and Saklayen Mostafa Sajid, are also participating in the open section. In the eighth round, they faced each other, with Tahsin defeating Saklayen to reach 4 points from 8 games, while Saklayen remains on 3 points.
In the women’s section, Woman FIDE Master Noshin Anjum has earned 3.5 points after eight rounds. On Tuesday, she drew her game against Mongolian International Master Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel.
UA / TDS
