Wednesday, Nov 06, 2002
Wednesday, Nov 06, 2002 |
| Sport | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Sport
-
Chess
By Arvind Aaron
In the women's section, India women beat Belarus 2.5-0.5 to move to the sixth place with 17 points. Indian men are in the fifth place on 23 points along with England and Croatia. The leader and defending champion, Russia, was jolted by Hungary but it continues to be in lead with 25.5 points. Hungary is on 25 points and behind it is China on 24; Bosnia & Herzegovina is on 23.5. Round nine was the one to watch in this event. In the clash of the top two teams, Hungary shocked Russia 2.5-1.5 with Robert Ruck beating Peter Svidler on the bottom board. The margin of defeat could have been worse for the Russians had Garry Kasparov been defeated by Peter Leko on the top table. "Two moves from the end, I missed 53.Nf8+ winning in one move," Leko told The Hindu from inside the playing area but after the game was agreed drawn. Judit Polgar who drew Grischuk with black, and Almasi who drew Khalifman were in a mood to celebrate inside the playing area delighted at having beaten the Russians. Judit Polgar was impressive against Grischuk, sacrificing two pawns. The Russians including Kasparov vanished from the floor of the playing area after their games concluded while the Hungarians patted themselves for this feat. "Hungary saved the Olympiad," said GM Miso Cebalo, the commentator from what looked like a one horse race for the gold medal with Russia speeding its way. Kasparov who held a slight advantage with the black pieces tried to risk when he realised that Russia was losing and nearly paid with his point and was lucky that Leko missed his chance. Reacting to the chance Kasparov gave and Leko missed, Nigel Short remarked, "In this time control absolutely nothing surprises me." Russian Peter Svidler told The Hindu, "A defeat is not the end of the world; it makes today's game against the Chinese more important. We should get a decent enough margin to restore my position." Russia is yet to play key teams like Ukraine and England. Big wins for England, Croatia In a fiercely competitive day of 2.5-1.5 wins, England rose up with a big 3-1 win against Belarus with wins by Adams, Short and Conquest. Croatia won by a even greater 3.5-0.5 margin against Lithuania. Both Croatia and England has entered the inner ring of teams and India. Georgians are speeding towards the tape and their 3-0 sweep of 6th seed Romania shows that they do not want to wait for others to catch but would like to win the Olympiad by their own merit. Chiburdanidze and Ioseliani won with powerful play on the two top boards but Khurtsidze benefited from her opponent's play which included collapsing in the first time control. Georgia is on 22 points and is now a full length of three points ahead of the rest. Five rounds remain to be played and it is hard to imagine any team catching up. Georgians were champions in 1992, 1994, and 1996 and are looking forward to regain their title. Smiles in Indian camp India is beginning to be the talk of the Olympiad for good performances in both sections. If the event is concluded after round nine, we will have the best finishing of all time. "No they should stop it only after we win by a bigger margin," joked the team's main star Krishnan Sasikiran. In his new festival clothing, Sasikiran turned down a draw offer that came early in the game. Trainer of the team, Evgeny Vladimirov asked Sasikiran to continue but due to some strange reasons asked Ramesh to propose a draw even after he had won a pawn. Sasikiran played the Sicilian Najdorf against Zbynek Hracek and equalised easily when white allowed the pawn break on the queen file on move 16. But after 43 moves, black found nothing better than a half point in a queen, rook and minor piece ending. "I should have the tried the more risky 32...Rd2," Sasikiran said about his first drawn game of the Olympiad. He had won four and lost two for a 4.5/7 score. Harikrishna made yet another draw and the white pieces did not give him much scope to play for a win. He was white against Babula and his higher rated opponent, made a repetition of moves to take a draw despite enjoying a slightly better position. Harikrishna has made six draws and lost a game and a win continues to elude him. Last time at Istanbul he made a Grandmaster norm with excellent play. India's win came from board three where Kunte defended with the Sicilian defence and benefited from a wrong plan by Navara David from the 21st move. Kunte won a rook for bishop from that complicated deal and emerged a winner using that material with the black pieces in 57 moves with sound technique. Ramesh won a pawn on the 21st move against the Sicilian defence of Oral Thomas but could not use that as the rook ending they reached was drawn at move 43. Ramesh convinced his trainer and played on when there was an instruction to offer a draw. However he did not do damage to his position but had his opponent is some trouble before giving him a draw. In the tenth round, India is facing England. They first defeated England at Thessaloniki 1988 when Murugan beat Mestel leaving other games drawn. Similarly, in 1992 at Manila India beat England when Thipsay beat Adams. Indian women are on the fast lane too and are matching their male counterparts. Although Indian women were in the short list of teams to be subjected for drug testing, Vijayalakshmi told this newspaper that none of our players were chosen. The list is held as a secret but Colombia's Zapata had confirmed that he underwent a test, results for which will be known in two weeks. Lagvilava played the Rossolimo attack against Vijayalakshmi and went for a rook for bishop sacrifice which sounded more like a blunder on move 15 when the Indian player accepted the bait and never gave any compensation in return. Vijayalakshmi used that advantage to win with the black pieces in 44 moves. Fielded after a two round rest, Meenakshi came back strongly to defeat Tetenkina with the white pieces in a short miniature game lasting 25 moves. From an isolated queen pawn position with white, Meenakshi won with a knight sacrifice to make winning look easy. "The entire line was home or rather prepared in the hotel room till about move 20," said Meenakshi. She credited Ruslan Scherbakov, the team trainer for the preparation that worked. On the last board, Swathi Ghate missed many winning chances against Natalia Popova and finally made a draw in 78 moves from an opposite colour bishop ending. It concluded India's 2.5-0.5 win. India won five matches and lost just two. In the tenth round, India faces the high profile Russia. Drug testing Monday was in the news for other reasons too. For the first time drug testing started. At the start of play, four men and two women were picked by a random drawing of lot and they were asked to come after their games to be tested by the sector arbiters. A historical event that FIDE is trying to make the game ready for inclusion in the Olympic Games if the IOC decides to admit chess as sport at any given point. Dr Jana Bellin who has played Chess Olympiads and is an International Woman Master and the director of these tests said, "Doping tests have started. There is nothing to be worried about. Selection is random before the round. Test is after the game. It is nothing to be agitated about. I understand that there is lot of anxiety. It will be done discreetly done with the highest standards recommended." When asked if normal players would be caught, as chess players in Europe are known to consume excessive glasses of coffee, she said, the mix of coffee and coke can trigger a test positive and the recommended ban is few months to a maximum of two years. There is a sense of mixed feelings about players accepting to get the tests done, Grandmaster Genna Sosonko, captain of the Netherlands said he was aware that Loek Van Wely will not take the test even if his name is picked. Confusion and hell could break lose if such a situation arises with a non complying player and what punishment officials will hand to such players. Important results (round nine): men: Hungary (25) bt Russia (25.5) 2.5-1.5; China (24) bt Slovakia (22.5) 2.5-1.5; Bosnia & Herzegovina (23.5) bt Georgia (22.5) 2.5-1.5; Czech Republic (22.5) lost to India (23) 1.5-2.5; Poland (22.5) drew with Germany (22.5) 2-2; Netherlands (22.5) drew with Armenia (22.5) 2-2; Belarus (21) lost to England (23) 1-3; France (22) bt Azerbaijan (21.5) 2.5-1.5. Women: Romania (16) lost to Georgia (22) 0-3; Poland (17) drew with U.S. (18.5) 1.5-1.5; China (19) bt Vietnam (17.5) 2.5-0.5; Bulgaria (16.5) lost to Russia (18.5) 1-2; Belarus (15) lost to India (17) 0.5-2.5. Standings after nine rounds: men: 1 Russia 25.5, 2 Hungary 25, 3 China 24, 4 Bosnia & Herzegovina 23.5, 5-7 India, England, Croatia 23 each, 8-14 Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, Georgia, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic 22.5 each. Women: 1 Georgia 22, 2 China 19, 3-4 Russia, USA 18.5 each, 5 Hungary 17.5, 6-9 India, Greece, Slovakia, Poland 17 each, 10-16 Bulgaria, Germany, Vietnam, France, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan 16.5 each.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
