After suffering a loss against powerhouse Russia in the previous round, the Indian men’s team was back in business defeating Norway 2.5-1.5 in the 35th Chess Olympiad which saw the women team brushing aside the challenge of Azerbaijan 3-0 in the fourth round matches here. The win put the Indian men on 10.5 points, in joint 16th position in the 14-round competition. Russia, who blanked Georgia 3-1, continue to lead the table along with Poland and Armenia with 13 points each. In the women’s section, US and China (both on 9.5 points) moved atop the leaderboard with an identical 2-1 victories over Poland and Yugoslavia respectively. The Indian team is placed in joint second position with Georgia, Russia and Poland. It was an outstanding performance on all three boards by the Indian girls with Vijaylaxmi giving them a flying start in the opener overpowering Firuza Venikhanli. India could have finished the men’s round 3-1 had GM Pravin Thipsay not mishandled the end game against Hersvik Daniel who played black. RESULTS MEN:- Russia (13) beat Georgia (11) 3-1, Cuba (11) lost to Poland (13) 3-1, Armenia (13.0) beat Yugoslavia (10) 3.5-0.5, Bosnia and Herzegovina (12.5) beat Kazakhastan (10.5) 3-1, Azerbaijan (10.5) lost to Hungary (11.5) 1.5-2.5, Ukraine (12) beat Spain (10) 3-1, France (11.5) beat Switzerland (10.5) 2.5-1.5, Slovakia (11.5) lost to Romania (12.5) 1.5-2.5, Bulgaria (10) lost to Czech Republic (12) 1-3, Macedonia (10.5) lost to The Netherlands (11) 1.5-2.5, China (10.5) drew with Germany 2-2 (10.5), US (10.5) beat Colombia (10) 2.5-1.5, Latvia (9.5) lost to Slovenia ‘A’ (10.5) 1.5-2.5, Uzbekistan (11) beat Greece (9) 3-1, Norway (9.5) lost to India (10.5) 1.5-2.5, Croatia (11) beat Italy (9) 3-1, Denmark (10) drew with Ireland (10) 2-2, Austria (8.5) lost to Moldova (11.5) 0.5-3.5, Iceland (9) lost to England (10) 1.5-2.5, Sweden (10.5) beat Portugal (8.5) 3-1. WOMEN: Poland (9) lost to China (9.5) 1-2, US (9.5) beat Yugoslavia (8.5) 2-1, Armenia (8) lost to Russia (9) 1-2, Vietnam (8.5) drew with Romania (8.5) 1.5-1.5, Moldova (7) lost to Georgia (9) 0.5-2.5, Czech Republic (9) beat Ukraine (7) 2.5-0.5, Slovakia (8) drew with Germany (8) 1.5-1.5, Belarus (7.5) lost to France (8) 1-2, India (9) beat Azerbaijan (6) 3-0, Greece (7.5) drew with Croatia (7.5) 1.5-1.5, Argentina (8.5) beat Israel (6.5) 2.5-0.5, Lithuania (7) lost to Ecuador (8) 1-2, Bulgaria (8.5) beat Australia (6) 3-0, Switzerland (7.5) beat England (6.5) 2-1, Venezuela (6) lost to Hungary (8) 0.5-2.5, Netherlands (8) beat Philippines (6) 2.5-0.5, Cuba (6.5) lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina (7.5) 1-2, Slovenia ‘C’ (6.5) lost to Mongolia (7.5) 1-2.
