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Chess
By Rakesh Rao
India men's B team captain GM Koneru Humpy making a move during her first round match against Wong Zi Jing of Malaysia in the Asian team chess championship at Jodhpur on Tuesday. The Indian girl prevailed and her team emerged an overwhelming 3-5-0.5 victor . — Photos: R.V. Moorthy
With a draw on the top board and an equally-surprising victory on the fourth, the men from Turkmenistan denied China a flying start in the Asian team chess championship here on Tuesday. On a day when the `heavyweights' were pitted against the not-so-mighty rivals, after the previously-announced round-robin format was replaced this morning by Swiss league over nine rounds, the results came on expected lines but not the margin in all cases. China had to remain satisfied with a none-too-impressive 2.5-1.5 victory after Zhang Zhong was held on the top board by International Master Amanmurat Kakageldiev. The result was the biggest surprise of the day since the in-form Chinese is rated a whopping 167 points ahead Kakageldiev. Though Asian champion Xu Jun and Zhang Pengxiang won as expected, IM Yu Zhaotang was walloped by Odeev Hadjar. India's combination featuring K. Sasikiran, P. Hari Krishna, Dibyendu Barua and Abhijit Kunte could only manage a 3-1 triumph over Kyrgyztan. Abhijeet's slip at the winning post cost the team one vital point. Both China and India `A', seeded one and two, will have to leave their designated tables in the second round as fourth seed Vietnam gained the maximum from Sri Lanka and India `B' took its time to complete a 3.5-0.5 victory over Malaysia. In fact, India `B' and India `C' team came the closest to join Vietnam in the lead. For India `B', British champion R.B. Ramesh drew on the fourth board before Pravin Thipsay, Sandipan Chanda and captain Koneru Humpy won in that order against their Malaysian rivals. Though Thipsay and Chanda never looked in trouble, Humpy had to overcome a bumpy opening phase during her experiment with Sicilian Defence. Wong Zi Jing, considered an unpredictable quantity, seized the initiative by gaining a bishop and knight for a rook by the 19th move. Gradually, Humpy targetted his rival's centre pawn and went on to mount added pressure while Jing found himself running out of time. In desperation, Jing sacrificed a knight but could not prevent Humpy from tightening the noose in just under four hours. Like Ramesh, it was Lanka Ravi who did not contribute as much as his teammates in India `C'. The Indian combination of Sriram Jha, Lanka Ravi, Dinesh Kumar and Roktim Bandyopadhyay were expected to maul Macau 4-0 but Ravi failed to land the final punch and settled for a draw on the second board. In the women's section, Ramesh's fiancee and National champion Aarthie Ramaswamy, too, opened with a draw as India `A' defeated Turkmenistan 2.5-0.5. S. Vijayalakshmi and Nisha Mohota found the going very easy. The Chinese women took off with a 3-0 verdict over Kyrgystan after resting World champion Zhu Chen. Vietnam's girls emulated their male counterparts and blanked Bangladesh. India `B' joined China and Vietnam in the lead after the trio of S. Meenakshi, Swati Ghate and Tania Sachdev dismissed Malaysia's challenge. But India `C' had to split points with Iran after Eesha Karavade won, Saheli Dhar-Barua lost and Anupama Gokhale drew. Meanwhile, Sai Meera has been summoned to join the India `C' team after her Chennai-based teammate Y. Pratibha expressed her inability to make it. The results (first round): Men: China beat Turkmenistan 2.5-1.5 (Zhang Zhong drew with Amanmurat Kakageldiev; Xu Jun bt Meylis Annabezdiev; Zhang Pengxiang bt Artyk Ovezov; Yu Zhaotang lost to Odeev Hadjar). India `A' beat Kyrgyztan 3-1 (K. Sasikiran bt Milan Turpanov; P. Hari Krishna bt Talaybek Imanaliev; Dibyendu Barua bt Algis Shukuraliev; Abhijit Kunte lost to Natan Zilerman). Kazakhstan bt Iran 3-1 (Darmen Sadvakasov drew with Ehsan Ghaem Maghami; Pavel Kotsur drew with Zardast Morteza Mahjoob; Petr Kostenko bt Ghani Darbanvai; Nurlan Ibrayev bt Darban Mortaza). India `B' beat Malaysia 3.5-0.5 (Koneru Humpy bt Wong Zi Jing; Pravin Thipsay bt Marcus Chan; Sandipan Chanda bt Nicholas Chan; R. B. Ramesh drew with Ismail Ahmad). Vietnam bt Sri Lanka 4-0 (Dao Thien Hai bt G. L. Wijesuriya; Nguyen Anh Dung bt C. K. D. Fonseki; Tu Hoang Thong bt G. C. Anuruddha; To Quockhanh bt D. R. N. K. B. Dehigama). India `C' bt Macau 3.5-0.5 (Sriram Jha bt Solomon Celies; Lanka Ravi drew with Chang Hon Kun; Dinesh Sharma bt Mak Keng Kei; Roktim Bandyopadhyay bt Rodolfu Abelgas). Women: China bt Kyrgystan 3-0 (Xu Yuhua bt Irina Ostry; Wang Yu bt Aleksandra Samaganova; Huang Qian bt Janyl Tilenbaeva). Vietnam bt Bangladesh 3-0 (Nguyen Thi Thanh An bt Rani Hamid; Le Kiev Thien Kim bt Zakia Sultana; Vo Hong Phuong bt Afroza Khanam). India `A' bt Turkmenistan 2.5-0.5 (S. Vijayalakshmi bt Maisa Ovesova; Nisha Mohota bt Bahar Hallaeva; Aarthie Ramaswamy drew with Mahri Geldiev). India `B' bt Malaysia 3-0 (S. Meenakshi bt Siti Zulaika; Swati Ghate bt Marmona Roslina; Tania Sachdev bt Lim Han Ying). Kazakhstan bt Sri Lanka 2-1 (Maria Sergeyeva bt Vineetha Wijesuriya; Alfiya Turebayeva bt Ayodhya Liyanagedara; Aigul Imanbaeva lost to Tushari Mahawatha). India `C' drew with Iran 1.5-1.5 (Eesha Karavade bt Atousa Pourkashian; Saheli Dhar-Barua lost to Shadi Paridar; Anupama Gokhale drew with Mahini Salman).
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