Date:20/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/20/stories/2008112056762100.htm

Sport - Chess

Indians need consistency

NEW DELHI: India takes on Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Open section and Italy in the ladies category in the sixth round of the Chess Olympiad at Dresden, Germany, after a day of rest.

In the five rounds so far, the 13th seeded Indian men have performed above themselves to be placed eighth. The quartet of K. Sasikiran, P. Hari Krishna, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Sandipan Chanda are expected to emerge victorious against their rivals, seeded 29th.

Sasikiran, who joined the action in the second round, has won two games and drawn the last two while Hari will be looking for his third straight victory after struggling in his first two outings.

Ganguly and Chanda, who suffered their lone defeats in the match against Russia, will be keen to improve their record. In fact, Chanda is the only player so far not to have performed to his rating.

Pick of the lot

Among the Indian ladies, who are placed 14th, Tania Sachdev has been the most impressive. Playing with maturity that is in keeping with her rating of 2425, the Asian champion has scored four points from five games. On the fourth board, Asian junior girls’ champion Mary Ann Gomes has scored 2.5 points from three games but it is Swati Ghate who has been more impressive following an unbeaten performance that has fetched 3.5 points from five outings.

Harika’s woes

World junior champion D. Harika, however, is struggling against lower-rated players. As a result of drawing three games and losing one, Harika has performed at 2284 against her rating of 2462. Nisha Mohota, who lost her last game against Hungary by missing a draw, will be keen to improve her score of just half-a-point from three outings.

Overall, India will have to perform consistently well in the remaining rounds for an honourable finish.

Leading sixth-round pairings:

Open: Bosnia & Herzegovina-India; Russia-England; Ukraine-Germany 1; Azerbaijan-Armenia; France-Poland; Sweden-Israel; Georgia-China; Romania-Bulgaria; Colombia-Hungary; Netherlands-Moldova; Finland-Norway; Philippines-Spain.

Ladies: Italy-India; Hungary-China; Austria-Russia; Romania-USA; Georgia-Poland; Uzbekistan-Netherlands; Armenia-Ukraine; England-Bulgaria; Mongolia-Israel; Slovenia-Azerbaijan; Vietnam-Switzerland.