Chess: Indian Men finish 16th and Women finish 15th

The 32nd Chess Olympiad has come to a close with Indian Men and Women finishing 16th and 15th respectively. Armenia and Georgia went on to win the Mens and Womens title respectively.

P Harikrishna and Surya Shekhar Ganguly guided the Indian men to victory while Krishnan Sasikiran and G N Gopal played out draws. Harikrishna scored at the expense of Luboimir Ftacnik while Ganguly got the better of Tomas Petrik.

All the Indian men except Sandipan Chanda stand to gain a little rating from their showing in this tournament and the overall performance is better than last time when they finished 30th after starting out as the second seeds.

The Indian women could have finished better but for a miscalculation by D Harika in the final round game against Elina Sedina. While the other three boards ended in draws, Harika’s loss proved costly as the 11th seed team ended joint 13th on 14 match points.

In a nail biting finale, Armenian men retained the crown in the open section after beating China by a minimal 2.5-1.5 margin. For the Armenians Tigran Petrosian provided the much needed breakthrough on the fourth board against Li Chao while the remaining three games ended in draws.

The silver in this section went to Israel after they bounced back to beat Holland 2.5-1.5, while the US men’s team handed a 3.5-0.5 drubbing to second seed Ukraine to stake their claim for the Bronze.

For the records, the Armenians ended with 19 match points, Israel finished on 18 while the US finished ahead of Ukraine for a creditable third finish. None of the top seven ranked teams won a medal.

In the women’s section, Georgia regained the Crown defeating Serbia in their final round clash. The overnight leader Polish ladies went down against Ukraine on the top board and went out of medal contention.

The Georgian women finished with (18) points in all and had the better tiebreak score than Ukraine who finished second. The US women’s team finished third here beating France [Images] by a 2.5-1.5 margin and ending on 17 points with better tie-break than Russia [Images] and Poland respectively.

For the Georgian women the contribution by former world champion Maia Chiburdanidze proved to be most useful as the veteran Grandmaster registered a rating performance of 2715 points in her 7.5/9 score.

The 32nd edition of the Olympiad had 144 teams participating in the open section, while there were 111 teams in the women’s.

For every victory the teams were awarded with two match points while in the event of a drawn 2-2 result the points was shared. In the open section Armenia won nine matches, drew one and lost one while in the women’s Georgia won eight and drew two matches.

The next edition of the Olympiad will be held at Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, in 2010.

Important results final round Open:
(Men) India (26) beat Slovakia (27) 3-1 (K. Sasikiran drew with Sergei Movsesian; P. Harikrishna beat Lubomir Ftacnik; Surya Shekhar Ganguly beat Tomas Petrik; G. N. Gopal drew with Peter Vavrak); China (16) lost to Armenia (19) 1.5-2.5; USA (17) beat Ukraine (17) 3.5-0.5; Israel (18) beat Netherlands (15) 2.5-1.5; Russia (16) drew with Spain (16) 2-2; France (14) lost to Azerbaijan (16) 1.5-2.5; Vietnam (16) beat Serbia (14) 2.5-1.5; Hungary (16) beat Belarus (14) 2.5-1.5; Georgia (16) beat Romania (14) 2.5-1.5; Croatia (14) drew with England [Images] (15) 2-2.

(Women) India (14) lost to Armenia (16) 1.5-2.5 (D. Harika lost to Elina Danielian; Tania Sachdev drew with Lilit Mkrtchian; Swati Ghate drew with Nelly Aginian; Mary Ann Gomes drew with Lilit Galojan); Poland (17) lost to Ukraine (18) 1.5-2.5; Georgia (18) beat Serbia (16) 3-1; USA (17) beat France (14) 2.5-1.5; Netherlands (14) lost to Russia (15) 1.5-2.5; Romania (15) drew with China (15) 2-2; Hungary (14) drew with Uzbekistan (14) 2-2; Italy [Images] (15) beat Greece (13) 2.5-1.5;Argentina (13) lost to Belarus (15) 1-3; Mongolia (14) drew with Bulgaria (14) 2-2. Standings: Open: 1. Armenia (19 match points), 2. Israel (18), 3. USA (17); 16. India (15). Ladies: 1. Georgia (18), 2. Ukraine (18), 3. USA (17); 15. India (14).

Scores of Indian players (Open):

Men: Krishnan Sasikiran 6/10; P Harikrishna 6/10; Surya Shekhar Ganguly 6/9; G N Gopal 5.5/9; Sandipan Chanda 2.5/6.

Women: D Harika 5/10; Tania Sachdev 6.5/11; Nisha Mohota ; Swati Ghate 6.5/11; Mary Ann Gomes 6/8.

Chess: US dash Indian men’s hopes

The Indian men’s hopes of a podium finish went up in smoke after they lost 0.5-3.5 to United States of America while the women’s team held France 2-2 in the ninth round of the 32nd Chess Olympiad now in progress in Dresden.

With just two rounds remaining, the Indian men stayed on 11 points while the women inched themselves to 12 points.

National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly was the only saving grace for the men after he drew with Alexander Onischuk on the third board while Krishnan Sasikiran, P Harikrishna and GN Gopal went down to Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian, respectively.

The Indian women held higher ranked France thanks to fine victory by D Harika on the top board.

Playing true to her form, Harika defeated Marie Sebag on the top board while Tania Sachdev held Almira Cruikshank to a draw.

Nissa Mahouts also played out a draw on the third board with Silvia Coll as but Sophie Millet ensured a draw for her team by beating Swati Ghate on the fourth board.

In an amazing turn of events at the top half of the table, Israel defeated overnight leaders Armenia in the men’s section while in the women’s, favourite China were outdone by Serbia.

Israel emerged as the new leader in the open section on 16 points out of 18 and are now followed by Armenia and Ukraine on 15 points each.

The lead in the women’s section is now shared by Serbia, Poland and Ukraine, all on 15 points.

The Indian men slumped to joint 29th spot in the rankings while the women are now joint 11th and need a lot of luck apart from winning the remaining two matches for a podium finish.

Sasikiran lost to Kamsky who played the black side of a Grunfeld defense. The middle game was fought on an even keel but Sasikiran missed the thread of the position as the game progressed further. When the dust subsided Kamsky had an extra exchange and the rest was child’s play.

Nakamura outwitted Harikrishna with some imaginative display. Going for a rare set up as white, Nakamura won a pawn when Harikrishna fumbled and his technique thereafter was exquisite. The game lasted 44 moves.

D Harika saved the blushes for the women on the top board against Sebag in a Slav defense game. Playing white, Harika seized the initiative early and won two pieces for a rook to romp home after 72 moves.

Chess: Indian teams score at Chess Olympiad

The Indian men’s and women’s teams scored identical 2.5-1.5 victories over Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy respectively, in the sixth round of the 32nd chess Olympiad now underway in Dresden, Germany.

The Indian men moved to joint-third place with 10 points out of a possible 12 in the Open section and are now behind Russia and Armenia, who share the lead on 11 points each.

The women took their tally to nine points and share sixth place.

China (12 points) continue to lead the women’s section and opened up a two-point lead over nearest rivals United States after beating Hungary 2.5-1.5 in the sixth round.

Playing the top board, Krishnan Sasikiran defeated Predrag Nikolic of Bosnia-Herzegovina to open India’s account. That was the lone victory for the men, the remaining three games ending in draws.

P Harikrishna signed peace with Borki Predojevic while Ibro Saric and Dalibor Stojanovic held higher-ranked Indians Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Sandipan Chanda.

Among the women, Tania Sachdev succumbed to her first defeat in the tournament when she went down to Olga Zimina of Italy.

World junior girls’ champion D Harika’s hunt for an elusive victory on the top board continued after she was held by Elena Sedina. With India trailing, it needed the in-form Swati Ghate and Mary Ann Gomes to ensure victory.

Swati accounted for Elionora Ambrosi while Mary Ann defeated Marina Brunello.

At the top, Vladimir Kramnik and Dmitry Jakovenko showed the way as the Russian men cruised past England with an emphatic 3-1 victory.

Kramnik accounted for former World championship candidate Nigel Short on the top board while on the fourth board, Jakovenko proved too good for Stuart Conquest.

Armenia defeated Azerbaijan with Vladimir Akopian coming good on the second board against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The remaining three games ended in draws.

Sasikiran displayed top form with his black pieces, who employed a Neo-Grunfeld defence and Nikolic was eventually out-manoeuvred.

Tania went down after some over-ambitious play with white pieces against Olga. It was a semi-Slav defence by the Italian that netted her a full point after 43 moves.

Swati scored a fine victory in the Sicilian defence with black pieces to take her personal score to 4.5 points out of 6 while Mary Ann proved too good in her 27-move triumph.

Important Round 6 results (match point in paranthesis):

Men: Russia (11) bt England (9) 3-1; Ukraine (10) drew with Germany ‘1’ (10) 2-2; Azerbaijan (9) lost to Armenia (11) 1.5-2.5; France (10) bt Poland (8) 3-1; Bosnia & Herzegovina (8) lost to India (10) 1.5-2.5 (P Nikolic lost to Krishnan Sasikiran, P Harikrishna drew with Borki Predojevic, Ibro Saric drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Dalibor Stojanovic drew with Sandipan Chanda); Sweden (8) lost to Israel (10) 1.5-2.5; Georgia (8) lost to China (10) 1.5-2.5; Romania (10) bt Bulgaria (8) 2.5-1.5; Colombia (7) lost to Hungary (9) 1.5-2.5; Netherlands (9) bt Moldova (7) 3-1.

Women: Hungary (9) lost to China (12) 1.5-2.5; Austria (8) lost to Russia (10) 1-3; Romania (8) lost to United States of America (10) 0-4; Georgia (8) lost to Poland (10) 1.5-2.5; Uzbekistan (8) lost to Netherlands (10) 1-3; Armenia (8) lost to Ukraine (10) 0.5-3.5; England (8) lost to Bulgaria (9) 1-3; Italy (7) lost to India (9) 1.5-2.5 (Elena Sedina drew with D Harika, Tania Sachdev lost to Olga Zimina, Elionora Ambrosi lost to Swati Ghate, Mary Ann Gomes bt Marina Brunello); Mongolia (9) bt Israel (7) 3-1; Slovenia (8) drew with Azerbaijan (8) 2-2.