Indians put their house in order but China still ahead

India’s premier team got into top gear at the right time with a thumping 3-1 win over defending champions Uzbekistan in the sixth round...

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India’s premier team got into top gear at the right time with a thumping 3-1 win over defending champions Uzbekistan in the sixth round of the Asian Team Chess Championship at Abhay Days Inn here on Sunday.

India A struck through Grandmasters Dibyendu Barua and Abhijit Kunte on the third and fourth boards while Krishnan Sasikiran and P Harikrishna drew their games.

RESULTS (6TH ROUND)

Men: India C (14.5) drew with China (16) 2-2; Vietnam (15) bt Turkmenistan (12.5) 3-1; Uzbekistan (11.5) lost to India A (14.5) 1-3; Kazakhstan (14) bt Kyrgyzstan (10) 3.5-0.5; Macau (4) lost to India B (14) 0-4; Malaysia (12) bt Sri Lanka (7) 3.5-0.5. Iran (11) bye.
Women: China (13.5) bt Kazakhstan (9) 2.5-0.5; Vietnam (11.5) drew with India B (10.5) 1.5-1.5; India A (11) drew with Iran (9.5) 1.5-1.5; Bangladesh (8.5) bt Malaysia (6.5) 2-1; Turkmenistan (6) lost to India C (10.5) 0-3; Sri Lanka (3.5) lost to Hyrgyzstan (8) 0-3.

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China continued to lead the table with 16 points despite being held to a 2-2 draw by a determined India C on the top board. Vietnam kept themselves in the race for gold with a 3-1 rout of Turkmenistan and reaching 15 points after six rounds.

India A and India C were in joint third position with 14.5 points each. India B also joined the race with a 4-0 massacre of an innocent Macau who were wiped out in less than two and a half hours.

In the women’s section, China widened their lead to two points afer their 2.5-0.5 victory over Kazakhstan on the top board. Vietnam, who conceded a 1.5-1.5 draw to India B, were second in the table with 11.5 points while India A were third with 11 points. India C stopped China with draws on all the boards.

Lanka Ravi moved a step closer to his maiden GM norm with his 31-move draw in Benoni with GM Xu Jun on the third board. He needs only a draw on Monday against Malaysia to get his 7-game GM norm. Neelotpal Das agreed for a 20-move draw with Ye Jiangchuan in a better position while Sriram Jha and DK Sharma got comfortable draws. This result not only helped India C keep themselves in the race for a medal but also narrowed the gap between China and the rest of the field.

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Swati Ghate pulled off a creditable win over Lie Kieu Thien Kim on the second board in Petroff Defence in 41 moves but Tania Sachdev flopped on the third board, which continues to be weak link for the India C team in the women’s section. Meenakshi held her own against former world junior girls champion Hoang Thanh Trangon the top board.

India A huffed and puffed for their 1.5-1.5 draw with Iran and lost a good chance to overtake Vietnam on points.