Bangladesh Police does a hat-trick of Premier League triumphs
Bangladesh Police scored a hat-trick of Bangladesh Premier League wins by winning Golden Jubilee of Independence Premier Division Chess League 2021. The team scored an unbeaten 20.0/22. They have not lost a single match since 2019. This was the first time, among their three consecutive triumphs, they conceded two draws against the remaining podium finishers - runner-up SAIF Sporting Club and second runner-up Bangladesh Biman. Both of them scored 18.0/22 each, however they were placed second and third respectively according to the tie-breaks. Top three teams received Tk 125,000, Tk 75000 and Tk 50000 each respectively. Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation
Harsha, Leon, Abhimanyu and Aronyak are the top Indian performers
GM Harsha Bharathakoti, GM Leon Luke Mendonca, GM Abhimanyu Puranik and IM Aronyak Ghosh - all four of them scored an unbeaten 9.5/11 each for their respective teams. They gained 30.7, 15.9, 14.1 and 15.7 Elo rating points each respectively. Overall, GM Idani Pouya (IRI) was the top scorer. He scored an unbeaten 10.0/11 and gained 17.6 Elo rating points.
Champion - Bangladesh Police 20.0/22
GM D Gukesh was the top performer of the team 9.0/11, followed by GM Arjun Erigaisi 8.5/11.
Gukesh - Enamul, Round 9
Black sacrificed his bishop 20...Bxe4. It actually accelerated White's attack 21.Rxe4 g5 22.Rg4! Kh7 23.Qg3 Nh5 24.Qf3 f5 25.Bxe6! fxg4 26.Qf5+ and it's over for Black. This win by Gukesh was an important one for the team as it helped the team to draw the match against SAIF Sporting Club in Round 9.
Second Runner-up - Bangladesh Biman 18.0/22
Bangladesh Biman also scored 18.0/22. However, due to lower tie-break scores, they had to settle for third position and SAIF Sporting Club was placed second. GM Abhimanyu Puranik was the top scorer for his team 9.5/11. He also gained 14.1 Elo rating points.
Abhimanyu - Gukesh, Round 11
19...Bg6 active defense cost Black two pawns, which eventually became the deciding factor.
Board prize
Board no.1 - GM Niaz Murshed (SAIF Sporting Club) 78.6%
Board no.2 - GM Idani Pouya (SAIF Sporting Club) 90.9%
Board no.3 - GM Abhimanyu Puranik (Bangladesh Biman) 86.4%
Board no.4 - GM Leon Luke Mendonca (Manha's Castle) 86.4%
First division
Sultana Kamal Smirity Pathagar won the Golden Jubilee of Independence 1st Division Chess League 2021. They won all their matches 22.0/22 and finished four points ahead of the field. IM Muthaiah Al was the top scorer for the winning team 10.0/11, followed by IM Harikrishnan A Ra 6.5/10.
Top seed of the 1st Division, Palli Sanchoy Bank scored 18.0/22 to secure second place. IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad was the top scorer for his team. He scored an unbeaten 10.0/11.
Dhaka Chess Club secured third position with a score of 16.0/22. 14-year-old Alekhya Mukhopadhyay scored an unbeaten 8.5/10. He gained 151.6 Elo rating points. 16-year-old Sourath Biswas was the second-highest scorer of the team 8.0/10.
Replay Premier Division Round 5-11 games
There was one round every day starting at 3 p.m. BST (2:30 p.m. IST) from 10th to 20th March 2022, except the second and ninth round which starts at 4 p.m. BST (3:30 p.m. IST). The time control for the tournament was 90 minutes each for 40 moves + 30 minutes till the end, 30 seconds increment each from move no.1. The tournament is taking place at Asia Hotel & Resort, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Round 11 results
| No. | Team | Team | Res. | : | Res. |
| 1 | Sheikh Russel Chess Club | SAIF Sporting Club | ½ | : | 3½ |
| 2 | Bangladesh Biman | Bangladesh Police | 2 | : | 2 |
| 3 | Manha's Castle | Shahin Chess Club | 2 | : | 2 |
| 4 | Janata Bank Officer Welfare Society | Titas Club | 1 | : | 3 |
| 5 | Leonine Chess Club | Uttara Central Chess Club | 2 | : | 2 |
| 6 | Bangladesh Navy | Rupali Bank Krira Parisad | 1 | : | 3 |
Final standings after Round 11
| Rk. | SNo | FED | Team | Group | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
| 1 | 5 | Bangladesh Police | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 31,5 | 0 | 203,0 | |||
| 2 | 12 | SAIF Sporting Club | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 31,0 | 0 | 179,5 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Bangladesh Biman | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 28,0 | 0 | 191,3 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Rupali Bank Krira Parisad | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 22,5 | 0 | 114,3 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Shahin Chess Club | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 22,0 | 0 | 112,0 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Manha's Castle | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 23,0 | 0 | 99,5 | |||
| 7 | 3 | Titas Club | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 18,0 | 0 | 101,8 | |||
| 8 | 2 | Uttara Central Chess Club | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 21,0 | 0 | 66,8 | |||
| 9 | 10 | Leonine Chess Club | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 19,5 | 0 | 85,3 | |||
| 10 | 6 | Sheikh Russel Chess Club | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 18,0 | 0 | 60,8 | |||
| 11 | 11 | Bangladesh Navy | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 17,0 | 0 | 52,5 | |||
| 12 | 9 | Janata Bank Officer Welfare Society | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 12,5 | 0 | 19,5 |
Replay 1st Division Round 1-11 games
Final standings of 1st Division
| Rk. | SNo | FED | Team | Group | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
| 1 | 3 | Sultana Kamal Smirity Pathagar | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 31,0 | 0 | 233,0 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Palli Sanchoy Bank | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 30,5 | 0 | 174,0 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Dhaka Chess Club | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 28,5 | 0 | 162,8 | |||
| 4 | 9 | Khelagar Daba Sangah, Gopalganj | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 22,5 | 0 | 104,5 | |||
| 5 | 10 | Esoft Arena Chess Club | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 21,0 | 0 | 97,3 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Access Chess | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 21,0 | 0 | 88,3 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Mir Chess Club | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 20,0 | 0 | 88,5 | |||
| 8 | 4 | Sangbadik Shahnoor Khan Smirity Sangsad | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 18,5 | 0 | 81,3 | |||
| 9 | 7 | Sonali Bank Sports & Recreation Club | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 20,5 | 0 | 85,5 | |||
| 10 | 2 | Kasparov Chess Club | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 20,0 | 0 | 66,8 | |||
| 11 | 11 | Basir Memorial Chess Club | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 16,5 | 0 | 73,5 | |||
| 12 | 12 | Agrani Bank Daba Dal | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 14,0 | 0 | 57,0 |
