Woman Grandmaster Eesha Karavade scored a vital victory over higher rated International Master Marina Romanko as fifth seed India completed a rare 2.5-1.5 victory over third seed Russia in the second round of the Women World team chess championship at Ningbo, China.
India, which drew with sixth seed Armenia 2-2 in the first round on Wednesday, is presently placed joint second behind Poland that emerged victorious in both rounds.
On the top board D. Harika drew with Russia’s Tatiana Kosintseva while Tania Sachdev suffered her second straight loss of the competition after facing Nadezhda Kosintseva. Eesha’s victory couple with the walkover received by Mary Ann Gomes on the last board set up India’s triumph.
The biggest surprise of the day was fourth seed Ukraine’s 3-1 victory over top seed China One. On the two lower boards, Inna Gaponenko and Mariya Muzychuk scored over Shen Yang and Ju Wenjun, respectively.
The results:
Second round: Russia lost to India 1.5-2.5 (Tatiana Kosintseva drew with D. Harika; Nadezhda Kosintseva bt Tania Sachdev; Marina Romanko lost to Eesha Karavade; Valentina Gunina gave a walkover to Mary Ann Gomes); USA bt Armenia 3.5-0.5; China One lost to Ukraine 1-3; Georgia drew with China Two 2-2; Poland bt Vietnam 2.5-1.5.
First round: India drew with Armenia 2-2 (Harika bt Elina Danielian; Tania lost to Lilit Mkrtchian; Eesha bt Lilit Galojan; Mary lost to Nelli Aginian); Poland bt USA 2.5-1.5; Vietnam lost to Georgia 1.5-2.5; China Two lost to China One 1-3; Ukraine drew with Russia 2-2.
Standings (after two rounds): 1. Poland (4), 2-4. Ukraine, India, Georgia (3 each), 5-6, USA, China One (2 each), 7-9. Russia, China Two, Armenia (1 each), 10. Vietnam (0).
