India improved its chances of an honourable finish by recording resounding victories in the seventh round of the Chess Olympiad at Tromso, Norway, on Saturday.
Triumphs for in-form S.P. Sethuraman and K. Sasikiran set up India’s 3-1 victory over Qatar in the Open section, while Tania Sachdev, Mary Ann Gomes and Padmini Rout contributed to a 3.5-0.5 drubbing of the Netherlands.
India’s tally stands at 11 match-points in the Open section and 10 among women.
Day of upsetsSignificantly, the day also witnessed the two defending champions — Russian men and Chinese women — suffer their first defeats.
Russia rested spearhead Vladimir Kramnik and then saw Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler lose to Czech Republic’s David Navara and Victor Laznicka on the top two boards for a 3-1 defeat.
In the women’s section, defending champion Russia crushed China 3-1 in what was seen as a title-deciding clash. Kateryna Lahno’s top-board victory over World champion Hou Yifan was the highlight of the Russian triumph.
For India, seeded higher over its rivals in both sections, victory was expected, but truly heartening were the margins.
Sasikiran’s conquest of former women’s World champion Zhu Chen, besides check-mating attacks of Sethuraman, Mary and Padmini stood out.
Leading seventh-round results:Open: Qatar (9) lost to India (11) 1-3 (Mohammad Al-Modiahki drew with Parimarjan Negi; Mohammad Al-Sayed lost to S.P. Sethuraman; Zhu Chen lost to K. Sasikiran; Husein Aziz Nezad drew with B. Adhiban); Cuba (11) lost to Azerbaijan (13) 1.5-2.5; Czech Republic (12) bt Russia (10) 3-1; Serbia (10) lost to China (12) 0.5-3.5; Bulgaria (12) bt the Netherlands (10) 3-1; Croatia (10) lost to Romania (12) 1.5-2.5; Armenia (11) drew with Hungary (11).
Women: Netherlands (9) lost to India (10) 0.5-3.5 (Peng Zhaoqin drew with D. Harika; Anne Haast lost to Tania Sachdev; Bianca Muhren lost to Mary Ann Gomes; Tea Lanchava lost to Padmini Rout); Russia (14) bt China (12) 3-1; Poland (12) drew with France (11) 2-2; Hungary (12) bt Romania (10) 2.5-1.5; Armenia (11) drew with USA (11) 2-2; Indonesia (11) drew with Iran (10) 2-2; Georgia (11) bt Serbia (9) 3-1; Greece (9) lost to Colombia (11) 1-3; Kazakhstan (9) lost to Ukraine (11) 1-3.
