Date:24/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/24/stories/2008112455441900.htm

Sport - Chess

Indian women hold France; men lose to USA

NEW DELHI: D. Harika’s timely victory helped India salvage some pride following a 2-2 draw with fifth seed France after the Indian men surrendered meekly to USA in the ninth round of the chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, on Saturday.

Harika’s rival, Marie Sebag, blundered a rook in an inferior position and resigned immediately. This result helped India offset the defeat Swati Ghate suffered at the hands of Sophie Millet. Later, Tania Sachdev and Nisha Mohota drew their games on the second and third boards.

With two rounds to go, India is placed 12th. Ukraine, Poland and Serbia share the lead with 15 match points.

Worst defeat

Earlier, the men’s team suffered its worst defeat of the competition when USA handed out a 3.5-0.5 drubbing.

Gata Kamsky overpowered K. Sasikiran and Hikaru Nakamura downed P. Hari Krishna. Surya Shekhar Ganguly managed a draw on the third board against Alexander Grischuk in 37 moves before G.N. Gopal lost to Varuzhan Akobian. The defeat against 10th seed USA saw India tumble to the 33rd spot. In the 10th and penultimate round, the Indian men take on Czech Republic and the ladies face Slovenia.

The results (ninth round): Open: India (20) lost to USA (23) 0.5-3.5 (K. Sasikiran lost to Gata Kamsky; P. Hari Krishna lost to Hikaru Nakamura; Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew with Alexander Onishchuk; G.N. Gopal lost to Varuzhan Akobian); Armenia (25.5) lost to Israel (24) 1.5-2.5; Russia (21.5) lost to Ukraine (22.5) 1.5-2.5; Serbia (22.5) bt Azerbaijan (22.5) 2.5-1.5; France (20.5) lost to China (23) 1-3; Vietnam (23) lost to England (22.5) 1-3; Belarus (22) drew with Slovakia (25) 2-2; Kazakhstan (22) lost to The Netherlands (23.5) 1-3; Cuba (21.5) drew with Hungary (22) 2-2; Sweden (21) lost to Bulgaria (25.5) 1.5-2.5.

Ladies: India (20.5) drew with France (25) 2-2 (D. Harika bt Marie Sebag; Tania Sachdev drew with Almira Skripchenko; Nisha Mohota drew with Silvia Collas; Swati Ghate lost to Sophie Millet); China (24) lost to Serbia (23.5) 1.5-2.5; Poland (23.5) bt USA (24.5) 3-1; Ukraine (25.5) bt Romania (22) 3-1; Georgia (25.5) bt Slovenia (22.5) 4-0; Argentina (23) lost to Armenia (24) 0.5-3.5; Russia (24) bt Lithuania (19.5) 3-1; Hungary (23.5) bt Vietnam (21) 2.5-1.5; Bulgaria (22) lost to Uzbekistan (21.5) 1.5-2.5.