Monday, Apr 14, 2003
Monday, Apr 14, 2003 |
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Chess
By Rakesh Rao
India `C' team members (from left) Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Lanka Ravi, Sriram Jha and Neelotpal Das in action against China in the sixth round of the Asian team chess championship at Jodhpur on Sunday. — Photo: R.V. Moorthy
Though the 2-2 draw against the host's best combination was not a bad enough experience, the mighty Chinese men were left to feel far more embarrassed on Sunday when India `C' dramatically pulled off a similar result in the sixth round of the Asian team chess championship at the Abhay Days Hotel here. The all-International Master combination of Neelotpal Das, Sriram Jha, Lanka Ravi and Dinesh Kumar Sharma proved equal to the all-Grandmaster Chinese team, comprising Ye Jiangchaun, Zhang Zhong, Xu Jun and Zhang Pengxiang. Considering the fact that the difference in rating of the players on each board varied from 173 to 216 points, this should surely go down as the most sensational result of the men's section so far. Due to the determined show of India `C', Vietnam found itself within a point of China after beating Turkmenistan 3-1. The second seed India `A', too, trounced defending champion and third-seeded Uzbekistan 3-1 and joined India `C' in the third spot with 14.5 points. In the women's section, China doubled its overnight lead of one point by getting rid of Kazakhstan 2.5-0.5. Though World champion Zhu Chen was held on the top board, China struck on the next two to emerge an easy winner. Though India `B' did well to hold second-placed Vietnam and India `C' blanked Turkmenistan 3-0, the S. Vijayalakshmi-led India `A' proved a disappointment against Iran on way to a 1.5-1.5 result. But the news of the day surely came from the men's top-table contest between China and India `C'. When the championship started not much was expected from India `C', seeded seven. But the 2.5-1.5 victory over the fourth seed Kazakhstan in the second round gave the team members the much-needed boost. In fact, it could have surprised Vietnam too, with a similar margin but faltered to settle for a 2-2 verdict. It then lost 1.5-2.5 to India `A' but made amends with a 3-1 thrashing of India `B' in the fifth round. Such a fine run had indeed raised visions of an encouraging showing against China. As it turned out, the Indian combination exceeded all expectations. Neelotpal, playing white, was the one to trigger off the sequence of draws. In his Sicilian Schevnengen game against Ye Jiangchaun, Neelotpal got into a clearly superior position by the 20th move when the Chinese, with a rating of 2684 points, made a draw-offer. "I knew I was better placed but could not say no to someone who is such a high-rated player,'' admitted Neelotpal, whose rating is 216 points less than that of Ye Jiangchuan
Ravi nearing GM-norm
Lanka Ravi, who came in as a replacement for S. Satyapragyan, has been the revelation of the championship so far. Using his vast experience to the maximum, this Chennai-based ONGC officer came out with honours even against two-time Asian champion Xu Jun in the Benoni Defence game in 31 moves. Significantly, indications are that Lanka Ravi now needs just a draw against Malaysia on Monday to gain a seven-game Grandmaster norm. According to the Chief Arbiter, R.C. Chatterjee, Lanka Ravi requires five points from seven rounds if the average rating of his rivals stands at 2,443 or above. At present, it is 2466. After Lanka Ravi's solid display, it was left to the two LIC colleagues playing with black pieces, Sriram Jha and Dinesh Kumar Sharma, to keep up the good work. Dinesh, on the fourth board, brilliantly foiled Zhang Pengxiang's aggressive designs. Dinesh played very cleverly in a position where the players had a queen, an opposite-coloured bishop each besides equal pawns. Dinesh, with more time on his clock, launched a timely counter-attack and slowly negated Pengxiang's advantage of having two connected passed pawns on the queenside. The exchange of queens hastened the end and the match was drawn in 54 moves. Meanwhile, Jha and Zhong were staring at a crowded board. But a series of quick exchanges led to an ending involving a rook each and an equal number of pawns. The peace treaty was signed on the 59th move. After India `B' had expectedly mauled Macau 4-0, India `A' scored an impressive two-point win over Uzbekistan. At one stage, the Indians looked better placed on all the boards. Though Abhijit Kunte and Dibyendu Barua struck on the fourth and third boards, in that order, K. Sasikiran agreed to a 53-move draw with World Cup runner-up Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Soon thereafter, P. Hari Krishna drew with Saidali Iuldachev in 57 moves. Vietnam remained half-a-point ahead of India `A' after winning on the first three boards against Turkmenistan. Dao Thien Hai continued his fine run on the top board while Nguyen Anh Dung and Tu Hoang Thong did their bit. However, on the fourth board, Bao Quang surrendered a point to Turkmenistan. Among the ladies, the biggest surprise of the day came when Iran held India `A'. It may be recalled that the Iranian girls were beaten 0.5-2.5 by Vietnam and India `B' last week. Dronavalli Harika drew first blood for India `A' by scoring an easy win on the third board. However, the two Woman Grandmasters in the team disappointed. Vijayalakshmi, who lost in the fourth round and skipped the fifth on Saturday, was expected to make the most of playing with white pieces against Atousa Pourkashiyan. But the tall Iranian kept Vijayalakshmi at bay and forced a very comfortable draw in rook-and-pawn ending. More than Vijayalakshmi, it was the other WGM, National champion Aarthie Ramaswamy who had a complete off-day on Sunday. Aarthie, playing black, failed to prevent a queenside attack by Shadi Paridar. The Iranian girl sacrificed a rook for bishop and soon gained Aarthie's rook in exchange of a pawn, promoted to a queen. Aarthie did try to create some chances by advancing the kingside pawns but Shadi's extra knight ensured no further threat. Aarthie had no choice but to resign.
Creditable display
by India `B'
On the brighter side was the manner in which India `B' held an in-form Vietnam. S. Meenakshi gave no liberties to the former Asian champion Hoang Thanh Trang on the top board before Swati Ghate scored an emphatic victory over Li Kiev Thien Kim. Tania Sachdev, however, struggled with time-management for the better part of the game against Vo Hong Phuong and eventually lost. The results (sixth round): Men: China (16) drew with India `C' (14.5) 2-2: (Ye Jiangchuan drew with Neelotpal Das; Zhang Zhong drew with Sriram Jha; Xu Jun drew with Lanka Ravi; Zhang Pengxiang drew with Dinesh Kumar Sharma). Vietnam (15) bt Turkmenistan (12.5) 3-1: (Dao Thien Hai bt Amanmurad Kakageldyev; Nguyen Anh Dung bt Meylis Annaberdiev; Tu Hoang Thong bt Artke Ovezov; Bao Quang lost to Handszar Odeev). India `A' (14.5) bt Uzbekistan (11.5) 3-1: (K. Sasikiran drew with Rustam Kasimdzhanov; P. Hari Krishna drew with Saidali Iuldachev; Dibyendu Barua bt Shukhrat Safin; Abhijeet Kunte bt Marat Dzhumaev). Kazakhstan (14) bt Kyrgyzstan (10) 3.5-0.5: (Darmen Sadvakasov bt M. Turpanov; Pavel Kotsur drew with T. Imanaliev; Petr Kostenko bt A. Shukuraliev; N. Ibraev bt Aziz Umarbekov). India `B' (14) bt Macau (4) 4-0: (Pravin Thipsay bt Soloman Celis; Sandipan Chanda bt Chang Hon Kun; R.B. Ramesh bt Mak Keng Kei; Tejas Bakre bt Radolfo Abelgas). Malaysia (12) bt Srilanka (7) 3.5-0.5: (Wong Zi Jing bt G.L. Wijesuriya; Marcus Chan bt C.K.D. Fonseka; Nicholas Chan bt G.C. Anuruddha; Ismail Ahmed drew with D.R.N.K.B. Dehigama). Iran (11) bye. Women: China (13.5) bt Kazakhstan (9) 2.5-0.5: (Zhu Chen drew with Maria Sergeeva; Xu Yuhua bt A. Turehaeva; Wang Yu bt A. Imanbaeva). India `B' (10.5) drew with Vietnam (11.5) 1.5-1.5: (S. Meenakshi drew with Hoang Thanh Trang; Swati Ghate bt Le Kiev Thien Kim; Tania Sachdev lost to Vo Hong Phuong). India `A' (11) drew with Iran (9.5) 1.5-1.5: (S. Vijayalakshmi drew with Atousa Pourkashiyan; Aarthie Ramaswamy lost to Shadi Paridar; D. Harika bt Mahini Mona Salman). Bangladesh (8.5) bt Malaysia (6.5) 2-1: (Rani Hamid drew with Siti Zulaika; Zakia Sultana bt Roslina Marmono; Afroza Khanam drew with Ruslan Haslindah). India `C' (10.5) bt Turkmenistan (7.5) 3-0: (Eesha Karavade bt Maisa Ovezova; Saheli Dhar-Barua bt Bahar Hallaeva; Saimeera Ravi bt Aykamar Malikgulyewa). Kyrgyzstan (8) bt Srilanka (4.5) 3-1: (Irina Ostry bt Vineetha Wijesuriya; Alexandra Samaganova bt Ayodhya Liyanagedara; Janyl Tilenbaeva bt Thushari Mahawaththa). Seventh round pairings: Men: China (16) vs India `B' (14); Kazakshtan (14) vs Vietnam (15); India `C' (14.5) vs Malaysia (12); Srilanka (7) vs India `A' (14.5); Kyrgyzstan (10) vs Uzbekistan (11.5); Iran (11) vs Macau (4); Turkmenistan (12.5) bye. Women: Iran (9.5) vs China (13.5); Kyrgyzstan (8) vs Vietnam (11.5); India `A' (11) vs Bangladesh (8.5); India `B' (10.5) vs Srilanka (3.5); Malaysia (6.5) vs India `C' (10.5); Kazakhstan (9) vs Turkmenistan (6).
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