GM Daneshvar Bardiya (Iran) and IM Song Yuxin (China) emerged as the winners of the 2025 Asian Chess Championship. Both the Open and Women’s competitions—nine-round Swiss tournaments—took place from May 6–15 at the Danat Resort Hotel in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, bringing together over 250 players from 38 countries.
In the Open tournament, it was a tight race until Round 6, when 12th seed Daneshvar Bardiya seized the lead and never looked back. After a crucial victory over Abhimanyu Puranik of India in the penultimate round, he entered the final round with a score of 7/8, a full point ahead of his closest competitors.
Despite losing in the final round to top seed Nihal Sarin, who caught up to him with 7/9, Daneshvar claimed gold thanks to the superior average rating of his opponents. Sarin took silver, while Shamsiddin Vokhidov secured the bronze, edging out five players (all with 6.5/9) on tiebreaks.
Final Standings – Open:
The Women’s section was an even more tightly contested tournament, with as many as seven players vying for gold going into the final round. Vantika Agrawal (India) defeated leader Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (Mongolia) to catch up at the top.
Meanwhile, IM Song Yuxin (China) crushed the French Defense of IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (Uzbekistan) in just 32 moves. WGM Xeniya Balabayeva (Kazakhstan) also pulled off an important win over Munguntuul Batkhuyag.
As a result, four players tied for first place. Song Yuxin captured the title based on the highest average rating of her opponents. Using the same tiebreaker, Mungunzul and Balabayeva claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
Final Standings – Women:
The closing ceremony featured ACF President Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, who extended heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to the success of this prestigious event—including organizing committees, technical teams, administrative staff, and volunteers.
He also congratulated all the winners and those who qualified for the FIDE World Cup, wishing them the best as ambassadors of Asia on the world stage.
Sheikh Sultan took the opportunity to announce the signing of an agreement between the Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to launch the FIDE Al Ain ACMG Academy. This global academy aims to elevate chess worldwide, nurture talent across all continents, and provide world-class training under top international coaches, following best practices and global standards. Services will be delivered in ten languages.
Photos: Asian Chess Federation
Official website: asianchess.com/