The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Mixed day for Indians

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 27, 2006

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Sport - Chess

Mixed day for Indians

Gibraltar : Grandmaster and National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly suffered a shock defeat at the hands of International Master Mohamad Al-Sayed of Qatar in the second round of Gibtele.com Masters chess tournament at Caleta hotel here.

After what turned out to be a tough day for higher seeds, as many as seven players emerged with two points after the second round and now share the lead.

They are GM Zoltan Gyimesi of Hungary, women's World champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, GM Mohamad Al Modiahki of Qatar, GM Pia Cramling of Sweden, Eric Schiller of United States, Alan Dunn of New Zealand and Jessie Gilbert of England.

Quite interestingly three of the early leaders are women players who all grounded much higher ranked opponents in this round.

The Indians had a mixed day overall with GM Tejas Bakre tasting his first defeat in the event at the hands of Modaihki.

GM-norm holder S. Kidambi also went down to Jessei Gilbert while Sandipan Chanda and Abhijit Kunte were amongst those who settled for draws.

The lone winner amongst Indian men was Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury, who put is first round loss behind to score a convincing victory over Willem-Jan Pannekoek of Holland.

Eves shine

Indian eves, however, saved the blushes on a tense day with some fine performances coming from Nisha Mohota, Swati Ghate, Mary Ann Gomes, Bhagyashree Thipsay, Anupama Gokhale and Kruttika Nadig, who all won their games after the first round debacles.

First round winner Nimmy George could prove no match to former World women's champion Zhu Chen of China.

It turned out to be another disturbing day for higher seeds after top seeded Alexei Shirov of Spain was held to a draw in the first round. Second seed Vladimir Akopian drew against Martinez Arizmendi of Spain, third seed Nigel Short also split the point with compatriot Jonathan Speelman and fourth ranked Viktor Bologan was outsmarted by Pia Cramling.

Ganguly faced the English opening from Al-Sayed and attained a dynamic balance in the middle game. Sayed kept his king in the centre all through the game and launched a king side pawn onslaught to catch Ganguly unawares.

The Indian tried hard to make a headway but white's position kept improving. The game lasted 43 moves.

Important results: Round 2: (Indians unless specified): Vladimir Akopian (Arm, 1.5) drew with Martinez Arizmendi (Esp, 1.5); Jonathan Speelman (Eng, 1.5) drew with Nigel Short (Eng, 1.5); Viktor Bologan (Mda, 1) lost to Pia Cramling (Swe, 2); Sandipan Chanda (1.5) drew with Mikhail Kobalia (Rus, 1.5); Peter Wells (Eng, 1.5) drew with Mikhail Gurevich (Bel, 1.5); Sergey Volkov (Rus, 1) lost to Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul, 2); Milos Pavlovic (Scg, 1 ) lost to Zoltan Gyimesi (Hun, 2); Victorija Cmilyte (Ltu, 1.5) drew with Kevin Spragget (Can, 1.5); Mohamed Al-Modaihki (Qat, 2) beat Tejas Bakre (1); Al Sayed Mohamad (Qat, 2) beat Surya Shekhar Ganguly (1); Tissir Mohamed (Mar, 1.5) drew with Abhijit Kunte (1.5); Jesper Sisask (Eng, 1) lost to Alexie Shirov (Esp, 1.5); Zhu Chen (Chn, 1.5) beat Nimmy George (1); S Kidambi (0.5) lost to Jessie Gilbert (Eng, 2); Willem-Jan Pannekoek (Ned, 0.5) lost to Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (1); Nisha Mohota (1) beat Ellisiv Reppen (Nor, 0.5); Joan Villena Perez (Esp, 0) lost to Swati Ghate (1); Kruttika Nadig (1) beat Maria P Jacobsen (Nor, 0); Mary Ann Gomes (1) beat Julia Almer (Swe, 0); Bhagyashree Thipsay (1) beat William Gill (Ire, 0); Anupama Gokhale (1) beat Steve Hulligan (Eng, 0). — PTI

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