India A emerges as sole leader in women’s section at 44th Chess Olympiad

India emerged as the sole leader in the women’s section after the tenth round of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu on Monday.

Koneru Humpy, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni notched up wins as India A pulled off a convincing 3.5-0.5 win against Kazakhstan.

Top-seed India A were delivered a winning start in the penultimate round by Koneru Humpy. The experienced campaigner Humpy outwitted Zhansaya Abdumalik.

R Vaishali had to share a point against Bibisara Assaubayeva which was the only positive result for Kazakhstan on Monday.

In-form Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni tilted the result of the match in India’s favor after getting a win over Zeniya Balabayeva and Guliskhan Nakhbayeva in their respective games.

With just one more round remaining, India A have grabbed the leading spot with 17 points. Poland, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine jointly hold second position with 16 points each.

India B and India C also registered identical 3-1 wins in their respective tenth round matches.

While India B downed The Netherlands with Padmini Rout, Mary Ann Gomes and Divya Deshmukh scoring victories, India C trounced Sweden. PV Nandhidhaa and Pratyusha Bodda scored victories for India C whereas Eesha Karavade and M Varshini Sahiti settled for draws.

In other women’s section matches, Georgia held Poland to a 2-2 draw while Ukraine beat Germany with a 2.5-1.5 score. Azerbaijan blanked Armenia 4-0 in the most one-sided match on the top board.

India A men's team beat Iran in open section

Meanwhile, in the open section, India A carved out a 2.5-1.5 win against Iran. Vidit Gujrathi and SL Narayanan posted victories for India while Arjun Erigaisi drew his encounter. Pentala Harikrishna ended up on the losing side.

The other two Indian teams in the open section, India B and India C, settled for a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan and Slovakia, respectively.

Gukesh suffers first defeat of the tournament

D. Gukesh, who had been going great guns with a sensational 8.5/9, suffered his first defeat of the event when he lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov in an intense game.

Armenia registered a fabulous 3-1 victory against Azerbaijan. The USA, having a comparatively easy draw, thrashed Turkey 3-1 while Serbia drew against the Netherlands 2-2.

Armenia and Uzbekistan have emerged as joint leaders in the open section with 17 points each. Hosts India A, India B and USA are in second place with 16 points each.

The host teams need to pull off dominating wins in the final round to emerge on top.

Chess Olympiad Results

Open

India A beat Iran 2.5-1.5

GM Maghsoodloo beat GM Harikrishna

GM Vidit Gujarathi beat GM Tabatabaei

GM Idani drew with GM Arjun Erigaisi

GM Narayanan beat IM Daneshvar

India B drew with Uzbekistan 2-2

GM D Gukesh lost to GM Abdusattorov

GM Yakubboev drew with GM Sarin

GM Pragnanandhaa beat GM Sindarov

GM Vakhidov drew with GM Adhiban

India C drew with Slovakia 2-2

GM Ganguly drew with GM Pechac

IM Gazik beat GM Sethuraman

GM Karthikeyan drew with IM Druska

GM Repka lost to GM Puranik.

Women

India A beat Kazakhstan 3.5-0.5

GM Koneru Humpy beat GM Abdumalik

IM Assaubayeva drew with IM Vaishali

IM Tania Sachdev beat WIM Balabayeva

IM Nakhbayeva lost to IM Bhakti Kulkarni

India B beat Netherlands 3-1

GM Peng beat WGM Vantika

IM Padmini beat FM Van Foreest

WIM Ratsma lost to WGM Gomes

WGM Divya beat IM Lanchava

India C beat Sweden 3-1

IM Karavade drew with GM Cramling

WIM Agrest lost to WGM Nandhidhaa

WIM Sahithi drew with WFM Cramling Bellon,

WIM Johansson lost to WGM Pratyusha.