A Thrilling event with a Nail-biting conclusion

The Asian Zonal Chess Championship 2025 (Zone 3.2) concluded a few days ago. It was held in Sri Lanka, and participants came from all six countries belonging to FIDE zone 3.2: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and Pakistan. The thrilling event concluded with the currently active top-rated Bangladesh player, IM Reja Neer Manon, winning the event and qualifying for the FIDE World Cup at 15 years of age. With the defeat of the co-leader of the event in the final round, Manon only needed a draw to ensure 1st place. After a hard-fought battle, the win slipped through the fingers of the Sri Lankan National Champion IM Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage and the Bangladesh junior won the tournament half a point ahead of the rest of the field. His fighting spirit and will to win was rewarded in the end.

In the following game, Manon played an interesting opening idea against the Sri Lankan IM Thilakarathne G M H and played a queen sacrifice which won him this very important round and sent him to a tied first place after the 7th round. The Bangladesh prodigy is not to be denied.

FM Tahsin Tajwar Zia from Bangladesh took second place, losing only to the top seed of the tournament, securing an IM norm. Throughout this tournament, his opponents found his aggressive play difficult to deal with. He is 2327 for a reason. Being the son of the legend GM Rahman Ziaur, he is doing great justice for the efforts of his late father.

The highest-ranking Sri Lankan player was IM Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage, getting 3rd place in the overall tournament with 6 and a half points. Ranindu was undefeated throughout the tournament, and nobody was able to crack through his solid play despite the many attempts.

The player who played the most exciting games of the tournament with sacrifices from all directions is Bangladesh's top-rated (there are two players with the same rating) IM Fahad Rahman Mohammad. He placed 4th due to the low tie-breaker score, but his chess was nevertheless enjoyable to watch.

FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman from Bangladesh took 5th place with the lowest tie-breaker score among the players tied for 2nd. Gaining 31.6 rating points, Mahfuzur only lost to the high-performing countrymen FM Tahsin Zia and IM Fahad Mohammad. Syed was quite unlucky to get paired against Fahad in the last round, who was a full point behind Mahfuzur before the final round. Nonetheless, a great performance by the Bangladesh senior player.

The only player to defeat IM Reja neer Manon, Pesandu Rashmitha Liyanage from Sri Lanka, took the 6th place. He also defeated IM Fahad Rahman Mohammad and gained a total of 59.6 rating points despite a K-factor of 20. Pesandu secured the Fide Master title by scoring 6/9 points, ending the tournament with a remarkable performance despite being a rating underdog.

Last but not least, Dishal Nimsara Weerasekara from Sri Lanka secured 7th place due to having a lower tie-breaker score than Pesandu. However, the 15-year-old also earned the Fide Master title and gained a whopping 124 rating points. Losing only to the tournament's top two seeds, the junior showed a very strong will to win throughout the event despite facing higher-rated opponents in the last seven rounds of the 9-round tournament.

That's it for this article, I hope you enjoyed it, share your thoughts in the forum and always remember to enjoy the great game of chess. Have a nice day!