Story ProgressBack to home
Ganguly guides India to narrow win
National Champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly has guided the Indian men to a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory over Hungary in the fourth round of the 37th Chess Olympiad.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:34 AM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Turin:
National Champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly has guided the Indian men to a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory over Hungary in the fourth round of the 37th Chess Olympiad.
It turned out to be a difficult day for the second seed Indians after Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Grandmaster Zoltan Almasi on the first board but Ganguly's expertise came in handy against Robert Ruck.
Both Krishnan Sasikiran and P Harikrishna drew their games.
At the top of the tables, Russia defeated China with a 3-1 margin to stay in joint lead along with Armenia, who trounced Norway 4-0, both having pocketed 13.5 points
The Netherlands is on the sole third spot on 13 points followed by Uzbekistan on 12.5 points.
A pack of four teams including defending champions Ukraine are next in line on 12 points while the Indian men are joint ninth at this stage with 11.5 points in their kitty.
India would be up against China in the next round of this 148-team event in which nine rounds are still to be played.
In the absence of star players like Peter Leko and Judith Polgar, it was a depleted Hungarian team that restricted the Indians to a minimal victory.
Anand played the Sicilian Nazdorf against Zoltan Almasi on the top board and the players followed a recently fashionable variation wherein the Indian ace did not quite get the counter play he was looking for in the English attack employed by his opponent.
In the women's section, Grandmaster Swati Ghate scored a thumping victory against higher ranked International Master Nana Dzagnidze to help the Indian eves salvage a draw against third seed Gerogia in the fourth round.
Grandmaster and the highest ranked girl in the World Koneru Humpy's wining streak was halted by seasoned Georgian Women Grandmaster Nino Khurtsidze on the top board while Mary Ann Gomes went down against experienced WGM Lela Javakhishvili.
In other matches of the day, Russia blanked overnight sole leader Lithuania with a 3-0 margin.
The supremacy of defending champion China also came under scrutiny by the Ukrainian dames, who scored a 2-1 win.
With nine rounds still to come, Russia took sole lead with 11.5 points out of a possible 12 and is now sitting on a huge 1.5 points ahead of nearest rival Ukraine.
Three teams -- US, China and Bulgaria share the third spot on 9.5 points while there are five teams right on their heels with 9 points apiece. The Indian eves are next in the standings, with 8.5 points, sharing the 11th spot with six others. (PTI)
Topics mentioned in this article
Chess
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.