Sasikiran strikes back

Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran roared back to form with a superb victory in the top board to help the Indian men8217;s team register an emphatic 3-1 victory over Bolivia in the sixth round of the 35th Chess Olympiad here. In the women8217;s section India fought back from behind to manage a 1.5-1.5 draw against Cuba in a round six match.

Defending champions Russia, playing without their best player Gary Kasparov, established themselves as sole leader after drubbing overnight leader Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.5-0.5. With 18.5 points in their kitty, the title favourites Russia are 1.5 points clear of second placed Romania and Poland.

After suffering two consecutive losses in previous outings in the competition, Sasikiran played a briliant game with black pieces to outwit Osvaldo Zambrana and set the tempo for an Indian win. On the second board Grandmaster Pentyala Harikrishna was unlucky to go down to Jhonny Chajtur Cuito with white pieces. Playing white against Sustach Marcos Anton on the third board, IM Surya Shekhar Ganguly had little troubles in making the most of a tiny advantage with black pieces.