Sport - Chess

Indian men draw with Slovenia

NEW DELHI: Indians experienced their toughest day in the Chess Olympiad when the men drew 2-2 with far lower-rated Slovenia and the women lost 1.5-2.5 to Serbia in the eighth round at Dresden, Germany, on Friday.

The results saw India slip to the 17th spot in the open section and 14th among women. In the ninth round, the men play USA and women clash with France.

On a day when USA crushed top seed Russia 3-1 in the women’s section, defending champion Armenia emerged leader in the open category with a 3.5-0.5 victory over France.

Third seeded Chinese women continued to lead in spite of being held by third seed Ukraine.

For India, D. Harika and P. Hari Krishna shook off their indifferent forms to score victories but the defeats of in-form Tania Sachdev, Mary Ann Gomes and a struggling Sandipan Chanda undid all the good work.

The 13th seeded men’s team was off to a good start when K. Sasikiran and G.N. Gopal drew with black. Thereafter, Hari put India ahead. However, a desperate Chanda traded his bishop for a kingside pawn, a decisive attack that never followed. He then gave up his rook for a bishop and lost.

In the women’s section, Harika put India ahead with her first victory of the competition over Alisa Meric. Mary, looking good to carry on with her winning sequence, paid for her ultra-defensive approach and suffered her first loss.

Swati Ghate drew comfortably but Tania lost in 71 moves to signal India’s second defeat in eight rounds.

In the meanwhile, it took the collective effort of four players born in the erstwhile Soviet Union to script USA’s commanding 3-1 triumph over top seed Russia. Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih, both born in Ukraine, made a mockery of ratings to stun World champion Alexandra Konteniuk and Tatiana Kosintseva on the top two boards.

On the two lower boards, Georgia-born Rusudan Golentiani and Ukraine-born Katerina Rohonyan drew with Nadezhda Kosintseva and Ekaterina Korbut to help USA complete an emphatic victory.

The results (eighth round):

Open: Slovenia (20) drew with India (19.5) 2-2 (Alexander Beliavsky drew with K. Sasikiran; Dusko Pavasovic lost to P. Hari Krishna; Luka Lenic drew with G. N. Gopal; Jure Borisek bt Sandipan Chanda); France (19.5) lost to Armenia (24) 0.5-3.5; Israel (21.5) bt Germany 1 (20.5) 2.5-1.5; USA (19.5) lost to Russia (2.5) 1.5-2.5; China (20) drew with Vietnam (22) 2-2; Ukraine (20) bt New Zealand (16.5) 4-0; Azerbaijan (21) bt Croatia (17.5) 2.5-1.5; Bulgaria (23) drew with Belarus (20) 2-2; England (19.5) bt Georgia (19) 2.5-1.5; Slovakia (23) bt Greece (18.5) 3-1; Turkey (21) lost to Poland (22) 1.5-2.5.

Ladies: India (18.5) lost to Serbia (21) 1.5-2.5 (D. Harika bt Alisa Maric; Tania Sachdev lost to Natasa Bojkovic; Swati Ghate drew with Andjelija Stojanovic; Mary Ann Gomes lost to Irina Chelushkina); Ukraine (22.5) drew with China (22.5) 2-2; USA (23.5) bt Russia (21) 3-1; Poland (20.5) bt Hungary (21) 3-1; Moldova (17) lost to Georgia (21.5) 0-4; France (23) drew with Uzbekistan (19) 2-2; Romania (21) bt Netherlands (17.5) 3-1; Slovenia (22.5) bt Ecuador (18.5) 3-1; Azerbaijan (16) lost to Armenia (20.5) 0-4; Switerzland (17.5) lost to Bulgaria (20.5) 1.5-2.5.

Leading ninth round pairings:

Open: India-USA; Armenia-Israel; Russia-Ukraine; Serbia-Azerbaijan; France-China; Vietnam-England; Poland-Germany 1; Belarus-Slovakia; Kazakhstan-Netherlands; Cuba-Hungary; Sweden-Bulgaria.

Ladies: India-France; China-Serbia; Poland-USA; Ukraine-Romania; Georgia-Slovenia; Argentina-Armenia; Russia-Lithuania; Hungary-Vietnam; Bulgaria-Uzbekistan.

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