P Harikrishna and S Vijayalakshmi achieve great featIstanbul, Nov 12: A good performance is what the chess players might have to say about the Indian men's exploit in the 34th Chess Olympiad that will reach its fruitful end on the morrow after a much needed rest day on Sunday.With one more round to go in the 14 round extravaganza, the Indian men's team has bagged 30.5 points and should they put up a good show on the last day, the team will better their all time best of 10th position achieved in the Thessaloniki version in 1990.The Indian women have performed fairly too. On the able shoulders of our only Woman Grandmaster Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi (10.5/13), who has contributed almost half of the teams total of 21.5, the team has gained valuable experience.Incidentally Vijayalakshmi is set to add another feather in her cap. An individual medal on the top board is a near certainty and she will be the first Woman player to have done so.Her final IM norm here has made her a Men International Master, a rare feat for women players. The regulations for achieving International Master title for men are much tougher than Woman Grandmaster title.The most impressive individual result among the men participants has come from teenage sensation IM Pendalya Harikrishna. The youngster has done India proud by getting his maiden Grandmaster norm. Given his age the result is stupendous. Even GM Vishwanathan Anand got this coveted result at the age of 18.Harikrishna's success has opened many a doors for other young achievers of the country. He has grown from strength to strength and if the pundits are to be believed this is only the beginning.GM Krishnan Sasikiran and Abhijit Kunte have done their job well. Sasikiran in particular has put a brave front in tackling the best brains in business.The performance here is likely to take him past the 2600 mark in the FIDE rating list.As expected the top seed Russia leads the men section with 36 points and unless something unexpected happens, the coveted gold will remain with them. Its amazing how without the two of their best players - Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik - the Russians remain formidable as ever.A 1.5 points lead over nearest rival Germany is not unassailable but certainly a good cushion to go into the last round.In the women's event, China has led from the first round and its only befitting that they have 2.5 points lead over nearest rival Georgia. The Chinese women have 30.5 points while the Georgians have 28. The medal winners are decided for all practical purpose as the third placed Russians (27 points) have a huge 3 points lead over the next in standing list.Pairings for last round:Men: Hungary vs China; Cuba vs Georgia; Russia vs Germany; Netherlands vs Romania; Ukraine vs Spain; Bulgaria vs Yugoslavia; Australia vs Armenia; Kazakhstan vs United States of America; England vs Bosnia & Herzegovina; Moldova vs Uzbekistan; Vietnam vs Latvia; Lithuania vs India and Sweden vs Poland.Women:Russia vs Georgia; Germany vs England; Hungary vs Slovenia; Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Ukraine; Israel vs Yugoslavia; Greece vs China; Armenia vs Macedonia, Cuba vs India; Bulgaria vs Denmark; Switzerland vs Netherlands; Romania vs Poland; Belarus vs United States of America; Finland vs Uzbekistan and Philippines vs Latvia.
