The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Sasikiran and Mary take India ahead

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Sport - Chess

Sasikiran and Mary take India ahead

Tania Sachdev was in a spot of bother against Olga Zamina
Sasikiran won against Nikolic Predrag in 41 moves

NEW DELHI: Two-time Asian junior girls’ champion Mary Ann Gomes gave India a winning start over Italy by beating Marina Burnello in the sixth round of the Chess Olympiad at Dresden, Germany, on Wednesday.

Mary, playing with white pieces, weaved a checkmating net around Marina’s king to win in 27 moves. This was Mary’s third victory in four outings.

On the other boards, D. Harika drew on the top board with black pieces against fellow International Master Elena Sedina.

Tania Sachdev, on the second board, was in a spot of bother against Olga Zamina while Swati Ghate, playing black, looked like giving India the winning lead by overpowering Eleonora Ambrosi.

In the Open section, where India took on Bosnia & Herzegovina, Grandmaster K. Sasikiran won on the top board against Nikolic Predrag in 41 moves.

This flawless triumph was Sasikiran’s third in five games and left India leading 1.5-0.5.

Earlier, National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly took a draw by repetition of moves after playing with black pieces against Ibro Saric on the third board.Ganguly, part of the team of ‘seconds’ that Viswanathan Anand employed for his World chess championship match against Vladimir Kramnik last month, has so far scored three points from five games in the competition.

On the remaining two boards, P. Hari Krishna and Sandipan Chanda, both playing white, held slight winning chances against GM Borki Predojevic and International Master Dalibor Stojanovic, respectively.

Hari, who has been showing signs of returning to form after a slow start, held a one-pawn advantage in an ending where the players had a minor piece each.

Chanda, the only Indian to play below his rating in the competition so far, also had an extra pawn in an ending where both players had a rook each.