Sify, India
Oct 20 2004

Chess Olympiad: Indian men beat Armenia

Mallorca: A brilliant Surya Shekhar Ganguly propelled the Indian men
to a 2.5-1.5 win over fourth-seeded Armenia after beating Gabriel
Sargissen in the fifth round of the 36th Chess Olympiad underway here
at Gran Casino.

The other games involving Indians were drawn after some very exciting
fights.

On the top board, World Rapid Champion Viswanathan Anand gave another
display of his superior defensive skills to play out a draw against
former World Junior Champion Levon Aronian.

On the second board, Krishnan Sasikiran salvaged a completely lost
position to hold veteran Rafael Vaganian, while on the third,
Harikrishna signed peace with Smbat Lputian after a struggle.

“It is an excellent result,” a jubilant Ganguly said soon after his
victory, which he considered to be very neat.

It was a normal Ruy Lopez where in Ganguly fell under some pressure
on the clock using a lot of time in the opening.

However, as it turned out in the middle game, Sargissen did not
really earn the desired advantage as Ganguly easily digested an extra
piece that was sacrificed.

Down to his last five minutes, Ganguly knew that his position was
better but the clock prompted him to offer a draw on his 21st move.

“I am glad now that he refused the offer, perhaps he overestimated
his position”, Ganguly said. The game lasted 42 moves.

In other important clashes, overnight leaders Ukraine were held to a
draw by third seed Israel with all the four games ending in a truce,
while top seed Russia defeated Slovakia 2.5-1.5.