Indian Women Record Sixth Win

By Arvind Aaron

Eleventh seed in women, India scored a healthy 3-1 win over seed 14 Slovenia in the tenth and penultimate round of the Dresden Chess Olympiad on Nov 23.
 

India are on 14 points in women after winning six matches, losing two to Serbia and Hungary and drawing two including one against top seed Russia.

Swati Ghate was too strong for Ana Srebrnic in the third board after she won in 51 moves with the black pieces from an English opening. Swati controlled the only open file and later won pawns for an easy win.

Mary Ann Gomes put India in the lead after she beat Ksenija Novak in 31 moves in the fourth board. She overloaded a defensive knight and won a pawn. Later, she won a rook for bishop and made winning look easy.

Harika offered a rook for knight and pawn and accepted a 37-move draw offer from higher rated Anna Muzychuk. Thereafter, Tania Sachdev drew Jana Krivec in the second board after reaching a dead equal knight and pawn ending after 40 moves.

Ninth seed Poland is leading the women's section with 17 points. Former champions Georgia overcame former champions China 2.5-1.5 to reach 16 points. Georgia joined Ukraine, Serbia in the second spot on 16 points.

In men, overnight leaders Israel lost to Ukraine. Ukraine lead jointly along with Armenia on 17 points. Armenia won the Chess Olympiad in 2006 and Ukraine were champs in 2004. Russia, top seeds in men and women have lost title chance in both sections. Two teams China and Israel are tied for the third place with 16 points.

Monday is a free day and the final round is slated for Tuesday morning German time 1000 which is our time 1430. Tune to http://dresden2008.de on your computer.

In a bloody all-decisive match, twelfth seed Spain defeated sixth seed Bulgaria 3-1 with Shirov ending World No.1 ranked Topalov's winning run. Topalov who had scored 6.5/7 lost round ten.

India, seed 13 overcame Czech Republic, seed 18 by 3-1 with wins from the bottom boards like in our women triumph. India are on 13 points with five wins, three losses and one draw.

Gopal was the only Indian player to have a rating lower than his opponent. Yet he was the first to win with the white pieces. Facing a rare Polugaevsky variation of the Sicilian Najdorf, Gopal sacrificed two pieces for a rook at one stage. Later, when the material was level, his extra pawn and Jiri Stocek's naked king gave him a 34-move win.

Viktor Laznicka avoided repetition of moves on move 51 and was playing for a win against Ganguly. However, he blundered a rook and resigned three moves later.

Harikrishna and Hracek reached a king and rook each without pawns and agreed to a draw as India won 2.5-0.5. Sasikiran drew Navara David in 74 moves with black in a very complicated game for India's 3-1 win.

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