Indians have a fruitful day

BENASQUE (SPAIN), JULY 8. Indians scored comfortable wins in the second round of the Benasque Open chess tournament on a day of upsets, here on Saturday.

International Master V. Saravanan scored an emphatic win over Beltran Ortiz of Canaries with the black pieces in a Sicilian 4.Qd4 variation as he inspired his teammates to a good show.

Saravanan obtained a double bishop advantage at a very early stage and rolled his pawns on the kingside. Ortiz countered with a `B4' break on the queenside which only served to weaken the `C4' pawn.

The Indian then shifted his focus, combined the play on both flanks and as he won a rook, it was curtains for Ortiz in 34 moves.

IM R.B. Ramesh, looking for an elusive GM-norm also scored an effortless victory over Broned Bori of France.

Using a flexible pawn structure, arising out of a Sicilian classical variation, to optimum advantage, Ramesh broke through the centre with typical `D5' and won two minor pieces for his rook in the middlegame.

Ramesh then launched a decisive attack on the opponent's king with his queen, knight and bishop, before checkmating Bori on the 39th move.

Vedant Goswami won with the black pieces against Martinez Brea, employing the Benoni variation. Goswami got a double bishop advantage early on and opened the position further with thematic `F5' break for his bishops.

He then proceeded to exchange the major pieces and fixed the opponents' pawns on the light squares and won two of them. The Indian then wrapped up the game in 45 moves.

Psakhis, Farada held

Top-seeded GM Lev Psakhis of Israel was held to a shock draw with the white pieces by lowly-rated Luis Herriaz.

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