The Hindu : Sport / Chess : India drubs El Salvador to stay in joint lead

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India drubs El Salvador to stay in joint lead

NEW DELHI: K. Sasikiran, G. N. Gopal and Sandipan Chanda scored expected victories after P. Hari Krishna disappointed with a draw against lowly rated rivals from El Salvador as India completed a 3.5-0.5 victory in third round of the Chess Olympiad at Dresden,Germany, on Saturday.

India, seeded 13, was expected to win easily against the 91st seeded rivals but Hari proved a disappointment when he drew against Lemmys Arias, rated nearly 300 points below, in 32 moves.

But soon thereafter, Chanda stopped Nelson Martinez in 29 moves and Gopal proved superior to untitled Eduardo Chavez Hector in 31 moves.

Sasikiran weaved a checkmating net against Hector Leyva in 40 moves.

In the ladies section, the top-table battle between India and favourite Russia was tantalizingly poised.

Though D. Harika was fighting for a draw World champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Swati Ghate held the whip against Ekaterina Korbut on the fourth board.

On the other two boards, Tania Sachdev and Nisha Mohota were comfortably placed against the Kosintseva sisters, Tatiana and Nadezhda.

In fact, Tania was promising a surprise victory once the battle entered the fourth hour.

On Friday, Sasikiran, Gopal, Tania and Mary Ann Gomes won their games to help India to 3-1 victories in both sections. The men overpowered Sweden while the ladies stopped Latvia.

The victories saw India share the lead with 19 others in the open section and 13 others in the ladies category in the 11-round competition.

Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew following a disappointing repetition of moves after 32 turns while Chanda reached a similar result after 41 moves.

Gopal benefited hugely from Tiger Hillarp Persson’s decision to trade his queen for a rook, bishop and knight. Sasikiran had to dig deeper with black pieces to win against Emanuel Berg.

Harika disappointed when she quickly drew by repetition of moves against a rival rated 202 points below. Swati Ghate fought for 40 moves before settling for a draw.

Two-time Asian junior girls champion Mary patiently laboured to a 72-move victory over Viktorija Ni.

The results (second round): Open: Sweden (3.5) lost to India (5.5) 1-3 (Emanuel Berg lost to K. Sasikiran; Evgenij Agrest drew with Suyra Shekhar Ganguly; Tiger Hillarp Persson lost to G. N. Gopal; Slavko Cicak drew with Sandipan Chanda); Poland (5.5) lost to Russia (5) 1.5-2.5; Ukraine (5) bt Serbia (4) 2.5-.1.5; Belarus (4) lost to China (5.5) 1-3; Azerbaijan (7) bt Slovakia (4.5) 3-1; USA (4.5) drew with Greece (6) 2-2; Spain (6) bt Bosnia & Herzegovina (5); Romania (6) bt Argentina (4) 2.5-1.5; Denmark (4) lost to England (5.5) 1-3.

Ladies: Latvia (4.5) lost to India (5.5) 1-3 (Laura Rogule drew with D. Harika; Ilze Berzina lost to Tania Sachdev; Katrina Skinke drew with Swati Ghate; Ni Viktorija lost to Mary Ann Gomes); Slovenia (4.5) lost to Russia (7); Slovakia (4) lost to China (6.5); Georgia (5) bt Romania (4.5) 2.5-1.5; Netherlands (5.5) bt France (4.5); Armenia (6) bt Czech Republic (5); Israel (6) bt USA (4.5) 2.5-1.5; Hungary (7) bt Spain (4) 3.5-0.5; Vietnam (4.5) lost to Poland (6) 1-3; Serbia (5) bt Cuba (5) 2.5-1.5.

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