Date:18/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/18/stories/2008111856961900.htm

Sport - Chess

India squanders a good start, loses to Russia

The Indian women stunned Germany 1
Tania and Mary Ann won with black pieces

NEW DELHI: Losses on the two lower boards undid all the good work done by K. Sasikiran and P. Hari Krishna as favourite Russia managed to post a 2.5-1.5 victory against the 13th seeded India in the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, on Sunday.

Hari stuns Svidler

Sasikiran shed his passive ways in the opening phase to hold Vladimir Kramnik in 35 moves after Hari stunned Peter Svidler in just 27 moves. Hari’s victory nullified Russia’s lead given by Alexander Morozevich following his expected victory over Sandipan Chanda.

Thereafter, Alexander Grischuk tamed Surya Shekhar Ganguly on the third board to clinch victory for Russia.

Another good show

Earlier, the Indian ladies came up with another impressive performance by stopping host Germany 1.

Tania Sachdev and Mary Ann Gomes won with black pieces on the second and fourth boards against Ketino Kanchiani-Gersinka and Sarah Hoolt respectively.

D. Harika proved equal to Elisabeth Paehtz in 24 turns following repetition of moves. Later Swati Ghate drew with Marta Michna to complete India’s 3-1 triumph.

With seven rounds to go, India is placed 10th in the open section and sixth among the ladies.

The results (fourth round):

Open: Russia (11) beat India (10.5) 2.5-1.5 (Vladimir Kramnik drew with K. Sasikiran; Peter Svidler lost to P. Hari Krishna; Alexander Grischuk bt Surya Shekhar Ganguly; Alexander Morozevich bt Sandipan Chanda); Ukraine (9.5) drew with Armenia (8) 2-2; Spain (10.5) lost to Germany 1 (8.5) 1.5-2.5; Norway (10.5) drew with England (11.5) 2-2; Romania (10) lost to Hungary (11.5) 1-3; Azerbaijan (12) bt USA (9) 3-1; Faroe Islands (7) lost to The Netherlands (11) 1.5-2.5; Macedonia (7) lost to China (11) 0-4; El Salvador (6.5) lost to Lithuania (11) 0-4; Israel (10) bt Egypt (8.5) 2.5-1.5.

Ladies: India (10.5) bt Germany 1 (8.5) 3-1 (D. Harika drew with Elisabeth Paehtz; Tania Sachdev bt Ketino Kanchiani-Gersinska; Swati Ghate drew with Marta Michna; Mary Ann Gomes bt Sarah Hoolt); Hungary (13) drew with Georgia (10) 2-2; China (12.5) bt Armenia (10.5) 3.5-0.5; Serbia (10.5) lost to Poland (12.5) 1.5-2.5; Indonesia (8.5) lost to Russia (13) 0-4; Ukraine (10.5) drew with Lithuania (10.5) 2-2; Mexico (7.5) lost to Czech Republic (11.5) 1.5-2.5; Denmark (6.5) lost to Cuba (13) 0-4; Netherlands (10) bt Kyrgyzstan (9) 3-1; Vietnam (11) bt Venezuela (7.5) 3-1; Moldova (8) lost to USA (11.5) 1-3.

Leading pairings (fifth round):

Open: India-Austria; Germany-Russia; Armenia-The Netherlands; Hungary-Ukraine; Norway-Azerbaijan; England-Italy; Poland-Costa Rica; China-Scotland; Vietnam-Cuba and Denmark-Israel.

Ladies: India-Hungary; Poland-China; Russia-Georgia; Spain-Romania; Azerbaijan-Serbia; Ecuador-The Netherlands; Cuba-Uzbekistan and Czech Republic-Austria.