Bu Xiangzhi, Li Chao qualify for World Cup of Chess from Asian Zone 3.5

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Here are the updates from the Asian Zone 3.5 Chess Championships. These were held from March 20-28 in Tianjin, China. The men's tournament is a qualifier for the 2011 World Cup of Chess and top two finishers book tickets for Khanty-Mansiysk. 55 players competed in the 9-round Swiss tournament.

Bu Xiangzhi

Last round top games all ended in draws, granting the Grandmasters Bu Xiangzhi and Li Chao B the first two places as they scored seven points each. GM Zhou Jianchao and Lu Shanglei shared the third place with 6.5 points.

Ju Wenjun

The Women's tournament that took place alongside and is a qualification for the 2012 Women's World Championship. Thirty two participants competed over 9 rounds of Swiss system. Top four finishers progress in the World Championship cycle. Reigning China champion Ju Wenjun and second-seed Shen Yang are joint winners with 7.0 points each.

Final standings (women):1-2. WGM Ju Wenjun 2519 and WGM Shen Yang 2443 - 7.0
3. WGM Huang Qian 2394 - 6.5
4-5. WGM Wang Yu A. 2398 and WGM Gu Xiaobing 2369 - 6.0
6-9. Wang Doudou 2182, WF Zhai Mo 2136, WGM Ding Yixin 2376 and WGM Zhang Xiaowen 2344 - 5.5
10-14. Guo Qi 2331, WGM Tan Zhongyi 2428, Wang Jue 2275, Ni Shiqun and Xu Huahua 2139 - 5.0 etc

The Chinese Chess Championships 2011 start from March 29 in Xinghua, Jiangsu, and continue until April 10.

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