Indian men lose to Azerbaijan, women beat Italy

Tue, Sep 28 10 11:28 AM

Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), Sep 28 (PTI) The Indian men''s team suffered a 1-3 defeat against Azerbaijan while their women counterparts beat Italy with the same margin in the sixth round of the 39th chess Olympiad here. The losses came on boards one and three wherein, playing black, Krishnan Sasikiran and Surya Shekhar Ganguly did not prove a good match for Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rauf Mamedov respectively. The white games handled by P Harikrishna and B Adhiban ended in draws, a clear indication that India is lacking sting when it comes to playing with the favourable colour against stronger counterparts. Past the half way stage, things don''t look very bright for the men given the fact that they have lost second time in as many outings when pitted against a higher opposition. The Indian eves, on the other hand, comfortably defeated lower ranked Italy 3-1. D Harika and Tania Sachdev came good on the top two boards while Eesha Karavade and S Meenakshi drew on the last two to ensure an expected victory. So far, the Indian girls have lost only one match in the event against Bulgaria but tougher games await them in the rounds to come. In the next match they will face third seed Ukraine. Meanwhile, in the men''s section World number one Magnus Carlsen lost again, bowing to Michal Adams of England in a nearly one-sided encounter which helped England win by a minimal 2.5-1.5 margin against Norway. Two overnight leaders - Georgia and Armenia drew amongst themselves to reach 11 points out of a possible 12 while the other co-leader Hungary found its nemesis in Ukraine in the open section. Vassily Ivanchuk starred in Ukraine''s 2.5-1.5 victory over Hungary when he beat in form Peter Leko. As things stand, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia share the lead in the open section with 11 points each while a pack of six teams are on the heels of the leaders, just one point behind. India, with eight points share the 21st spot and have a lots of catching up to do. Contrary to this, the Indian girls are far ahead and with 10 points share the joint third spot along with Georgia, Ukraine and China. Russia is the leader in this section with a perfect 12 out of 12 followed by Hungary (11). Indian results round 4 open: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beat Krishnan Sasikiran; P Harikrishna drew with Teimour Radjabov; Rauf Mamedov beat S S Ganguly; B Adhiban drew with Gadir Guseinov. Women: D Harika beat Elena Sedina; Olga Zimina lost to Tania Sachdev; Eesha Karavade drew with Marina Brunello; De Rosa Mariagrazia drew with S Meenakshi.

Source: Published>