The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Harika posts first win

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Sport - Chess

Harika posts first win

Mary Ann Gomes suffers first loss
India in 15th place with four rounds to go

NEW DELHI: World junior girls’ champion D. Harika shrugged off her indifferent form to give India a flying start against Serbia in the eighth round of the Chess Olympiad at Dresden, Germany, on Friday.

Looking for her first victory after five draws and a defeat, Harika ended Alisa Maric’s six-game undefeated streak in 29 moves on the top board. However, Harika’s maiden victory was followed by the first loss for Mary Ann Gomes on the fourth board.

Pressure takes its toll

Against Irina Chelushkina, Mary raised visions of a possible victory when she traded her rook for two minor pieces. But the two pawns that Irina managed in the bargain kept Mary on the defensive. The pressure finally took its toll on Mary who resigned after 42 moves once her bishop was trapped.

Swati Ghate was in a better position against Andjelija Stojanovic but the latter managed to force a draw by perpetual checks. Asian champion Tania Sachdev was locked in an equal minor-piece ending against Natasha Bojkovic.

On Thursday, Tania and Mary scored timely victories to set up India’s 2.5-1.5 victory over Bulgaria. The triumph kept India in the eighth place.

In the open section, India and Slovenia were tied at 1-1 after K. Sasikiran and G.N. Gopal played black and drew in under four hours. Sasikiran drew with Alexander Beliavsky in 35 moves and Gopal drew with an off-form Luka Lenic in 36 moves.

P. Hari Krishna, keen to made amends for his defeat in the previous round, was trying to his enlarge his one-pawn advantage in search of a possible victory against Dusko Pavasovic.

Sandipan Chanda, who sacrificed a bishop against Jure Borisek was struggling to salvage a draw. In the seventh round, Hari’s defeat to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave cost India the match against seventh seed France.

Biggest surprise

With four rounds to go, India was placed 15th. The biggest surprise came when top seed Russia crashed to a 2.5-1.5 defeat at the hands of defending champion and ninth seed Armenia. Gabriel Sargissian defeated Alexander Grischuk in 64 moves on the third board while the rest of the games were drawn. Another upset came when 10th seed USA stopped fifth seed Hungary 2.5-1.5.

Among the ladies, seventh seed USA ended China’s winning streak by forcing a 2-2 draw while Poland drew with top seed Russia.

The results (seventh round):

Open: India (17.5) lost to France (19) 1.5-2.5 (K. Sasikiran drew with Etienne Bacrot; P. Hari Krishna lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew with Laurent Fressinet; G.N. Gopal drew with Vladislav Tkachiev); Armenia (20.5) bt Russia (17.5) 2.5-1.5; China (18) drew with Ukraine (16) 2-2; Israel (19) bt Spain (16.5) 3-1; USA(18) bt Hungary (17) 2.5-1.5; England (17) drew with Azerbaijan (18.5) 2-2; Greece (17.5) drew with Belarus (18) 2-2; Vietnam (20) bt Netherlands (17.5) 2.5-1.5; Bulgaria (21) bt Australia (15) 4-0; Poland (19.5) bt Mongolia (15.5) 3-1.

Ladies: Bulgaria (18) lost to India (17) 1.5-2.5 (Antoaneta Stefanova drew with D. Harika; Emilia Djingarova lost to Tania Sachdev; Margarita Voiska bt Swati Ghate; Elitsa Raeva lost to Mary Ann Gomes); China (20.5) drew with USA (20.5) 2-2; Russia (20) drew with Poland (17.5) 2-2; Netherlands (16.5) lost to Ukraine (20.5) 0.5-3.5; Hungary (20) bt Mongolia (15) 3-1; Serbia (18.5) bt Vietnam (17) 3.5-0.5; France (21) bt Kazakhstan (15.5) 3.5-0.5; Cuba (19.5) lost to Moldova (17) 1.5-2.5; Georgia (21.5) bt Spain (15) 4-0; Ecuador (17.5) bt England (17.5) 2.5-1.5.

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