Batumi (Georgia), Sept 25
The Indian men and women’s teams made winning starts to their campaign in the 43rd Chess Olympiad.
The women’s team blanked New Zealand 4-0 with only Tania Sachdev facing some trouble while the trio of Koneru Humpy, Eesha Karavade and Padmini Rout recorded easy victories.
On a day when Viswanathan Anand was rested, Krishnan Sasikiran dropped half-a-point on the fourth board but that was only after P Harikrishna, Vidit Gujrathi and B Adhiban had secured victories to ensure a win for the team. The Indian teams got two points following the victory as the day produced some individual upsets but the higher-ranked teams prevailed.
For the Indian men, Harikrishna routed Ernesto Giron in quick time and Adhiban had little trouble to win as white against Daniel Arias. Gujrathi showcased his skills at the expense of Ricardo Ernesto Chavez but Sasikiran faced some trouble and had to split the point with Carlos Burgos Figueroa. Sasikiran with black sacrificed a pawn to reach what looked like a promising endgame. — PTI
India results
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