Istanbul, November 7: The Indian men left behind defeats in two successive rounds to score a comprehensive 3-1 victory on Tuesday over Slovenia while the women had another good day, holding Germany to a 1.5-1.5 draw in the ninth round of the 34th Chess Olympiad here.The ninth round saw German men succumbing to their first defeat in the tournament when they went down to Ukraine 1.5-2.5 which enabled Armenia, who scored a thumping 3.5-0.5 win over Spain, to join them atop the table with 25 points. India with 21.5 points are placed joint 18th.The major upset of the day was fancied Russia's loss to Bulgaria. For Bulgaria GM Vaselin Topalov and GM Kiril Georgiev scored vital victories over FIDE World champion GM Alexander Khalifman and GM Peter Svidler respectively.In the women's section, the Chinese (21 points) continue to lead albeit with a slender half point margin over Georgia. China were held to a 1.5-1.5 draw by Russia while the Georgian women swamped Armenia 2.5-0.5. India have 15.5 points.The Indian team made most of their white pieces on board one and three today. Sasikiran was given a well-deserved rest day and Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte took charge of board one. He opted for the Ruy Lopez and faced a less played variation from A Mikhailchishin.The opening did not have any surprises and Kunte got a miniscule advantage. The queens were traded soon and in the middlegame Abhijit sensed his chances in endgame and went on an exchange spree to enter a rook and pawn endgame. Correct play by Mikhailchishin might have held the day but technical expertise of Abhijit prevailed as he won after 65 moves.On the second board, IM P Harikrishna drew with D Sermek to provide a much needed consolidation to the team's lead. In the French defence, Harikrishna has mastered the art of holding any opposition and today was no exception.In the Tarrasch Variation, Sermek blitzed the opening moves and soon a level queen-less middle game was arrived at. Thereon, the exchanges took place at regular intervals and peace treaty was signed after 31 moves.Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua scalped G Mohr in a perfect street-fighting manner. Barua employed an unconventional set up to counter the Sicilian Defence and got the Queenside pawn majority.Important Results (Round IX)Men: Germany lost to Ukraine 1.5-2.5; Bulgaria bt Russia 2.5-1.5; Armenia bt Spain 3.5-0.5; Romania bt Switzerland 2.5-1.5; USA drew Israel 2-2; Hungary bt France 3-1; England bt Iceland 2.5-1.5; Poland lost to Uzbekistan 1.5-2.5; China lost to Georgia 1.5-2.5; Moldova lost to Brazil 0.5-3.5 and India bt Slovenia 3-1.Women: Russia drew China 1.5-1.5; Armenia lost to Georgia 0.5-2.5; Bulgaria lost to Ukraine 0.5-2.5; Netherlands bt Lithuania 3-0; Czech Republic bt Poland 2-1; Vietnam lost to Austria 1-2; Yugoslavia bt Slovenia 3-0; India drew Germany 1.5-1.5 and Romania bt Israel 3-0.Standings after round 9:Men: Germany and Armenia 25; Ukraine 24.5; Russia and Bulgaria 24; Hungary and Romania 23.5; Israel and USA 22.5; England and eight others on 22; India and 5 others on 21.5.Women: China 21; Georgia 20.5; Russia and Netherlands 18.5; Ukraine 18; Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romani and Armenia 17; India 15.5.
