Indians back to winning ways in Chess Olympiad

Sat, Sep 25 10 10:18 PM

From Our Chess Correspondent Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), Sep 25 (PTI) Indian men humbled Bulgaria 3-1 while their woman counterparts also overcame Iran with a identical margin to keep medal hopes alive in the 29th Chess Olympiad here. Surya Shekhar Ganguly, also known as second Viswanathan Anand, scored a sparkling victory over Alexander Delchev while G N Gopal proved too good for Kiprian Berbatov to pave the way for a much needed win after a loss against Russia in the previous round. Mainstay Krishnan Sasikiran earlier played out a draw with former world champion Veselin Topalov while P Harikrishna also achieved the same result against Ivan Cheparinov on the second board. In women''s section being held simultaneously, Dronavalli Harika beat Atousa Pourkashiyan on the top board. Eesha Karavade was the other Indian winner on the third board at the expense of Mitra Hejazapour. Tania Sachdev was held to a draw by Shadi Paridar and Nisha Mohota remained win-less after signing another peace deal with Ghazal Hakimifard. Meanwhile, at the top of the tables in the open section, hosts Russia suffered major setback when both Russia one and two lost by an identical 1.5-2.5 margin against Hungary and Armenia respectively. Arman Pashikian scored for Armenia on the fourth board against Artyom Timofeev while Peter Leko starred in Hungarian victory by defeating Alexander Grischuk on the top board. Hungary, Armenia and Georgia emerged as the new leaders with 10 points apiece while the Netherlands and Ukraine follow them a full point behind. India is currently joint sixth in the open section with six rounds still remaining in the biggest spectacle of the chess world. In the women''s section Russia one and Ukraine continued with their fine form to emerge as joint leaders on 10 points each. Hungary and USA are close behind on nine points while the Indian eves share the fifth spot on eight points now. Indian results (Round V, open): India beat Bulgaria 3-1 (Krishnan Sasikiran drew with Veselin Topalov; Ivan Cheparinov drew with P Harikrishna; Surya Shekhar Ganguly beat Alexander Delchev; Kiprian Berbatov lost to G N Gopal). Women: India beat Iran 3-1 (D Harika beat Atousa Pourkashiyan; Shadi Paridar drew with Tania Sachdev; Eesha Karavade beat Mitra Hejazipour; Ghazal Hakimfard drew with Nisha Mohota).

Source: Published>