Date:20/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/20/stories/2008082053462100.htm

Sport - Chess

India shocked, slips to joint third spot

NEW DELHI: Much against the run of play, seventh-seeded Armenia shocked the second seed, India, 3-1 to snatch the lead after four rounds of the World Youth (under-16) Chess Olympiad at Mersin, Turkey, on Tuesday.

India, the defending champion which surprisingly crushed top-seeded Russia in the second round and overpowered third-seeded Azerbaijan on Monday, surrendered rather tamely to the Armenians after Shyam Sundar and Prasanna Rao lost to lesser-rated rivals on the third and the fourth boards.

B. Adhiban lost his second successive game on the top board, while S.P. Sethuraman won again.

The result left India sharing the third spot with Russia and Turkey ‘C’ at 10.5 points. Armenia leads with 13.5, followed by the Philippines at 12.5. India plays Turkey ‘C’ in the fifth round of this 10-round event.

Leading results:

Fourth round: Armenia (13.5) bt India (10.5) 3-1 (Samvel Ter-Sahakyan bt B. Adhiban; Vahe Baghdarsaryan lost to S.P. Sethuraman; Haik Vardanian bt Shyam Sundar; Haik Tamazyan bt Prasanna Rao).

Philippines (12.5) bt Turkey ‘A’ (9) 1.5-0.5; Russia (10.5) bt Georgia (10) 3-1; England (8) lost to Azerbaijan (10) 1-3; Switzerland ‘A’ (8) lost to Slovakia (10) 1-3; Turkey ‘C’ (10.5) bt Turkey ‘B’ (6.5) 4-0.

Third round: Azerbaijan lost to India 1-3 (Eltaj Safarli bt B. Adhiban; Vasif Durarbeyli lost to Sethuraman; Ayaz Mammadov lost to Shyam Sundar; Narmin Nizami Qizi Kazimova lost to Prasanna Rao).

Turkey ‘A’ lost to Armenia 1-3; Georgia drew with Philippines 2-2; Slovakia drew with England 2-2; Switzerland ‘B’ lost to Switzerland ‘A’ 1.5-2.5; Russia bt Greece 3.5-0.5.