The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Hari, Chanda settle for draws against Canada

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Hari, Chanda settle for draws against Canada

NEW DELHI: Sandipan Chanda’s 15-move draw with Canadian underdog Nikolay Noritsyn saw India take-off on the wrong foot in the opening round of the Chess Olympiad at Dresden, Germany, on Thursday.

The 13th seeded Indians, looking to avenge the defeat suffered in the 12th round of the previous edition of Olympiad in 2006, started as the favourites against the 48th seeded Canadians despite resting their spearhead K. Sasikiran.

However, Sandipan lost a queenside pawn and immediately forced a draw by repetition of moves against Noritsyn, rated 207 points below.

When the match entered the fourth hour, P. Hari Krishna drew thetop-board battle with Mark Bluvshtein, rated 102 points below. This32-move draw, with Hari playing white, was another blow to India’swinning chances.

With Surya Shekhar Ganguly in the defensive mode against Pascal Charbonneau on the second board and G. N. Gopal locked in an even battle against Igor Zugic, India’s prospects of making a triumphant start looked remote.

In the ladies section, India, seeded 11, was up against a much weaker Switzerland, seeded 38. But the difference between the two sides was not reflected even in the fourth hour. All four games — D.Harika-Gundula Heinatz, Monika Seps-Tania Sachdev, NishaMohota-Barbara Hund and Anastasia Gavrilova-Swati Ghate — were evenly poised.

Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Peter Leko (Hungary) are among the leading men staying away from the opening round action.

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