Times of India, India
Jan 10 2010
India hold Armenia, joint third after fifth round
PTI, 10 January 2010, 08:16pm IST
BURSA: Krishnan Sasikiran continued with his impressive run and beat
highly rated Levon Aronian, but India slipped down to joint third
after they drew with Armenia in fifth round of the world team chess
championship.
It was a remarkable performance by Sasikiran. With his win over
Aronian, the highest rated player in the event, the Indian has now
scalped for the top two rated players in the event including Vugar
Gashimov Azerbaijan.
For highest rated Indian P Harikrishna, however, it was a tough day as
he lost a wild game against Vladimir Akopian on the second board.
On the third board, several times National Champion Surya Shekhar
Ganguly played out a draw with Gabriel Sargissian, while after a
marathon battle G N Gopal drew with Tigran Petrosian on the final
board and gave India a moral boosting draw against the Olympiad
champions.
India and Armenia now share the third spot with seven match points
each, while Azerbaijan and Israel are next in the standings having six
match points apiece in their kitty.
India was sharing the lead jointly with Russia, Armenia, Israel and
the United States after the fourth round.
Sasikiran won his third game in a row outsmarting Aronian in what
should have been a drawn. It was a Slav defense by the Armenian who
played black and Sasikiran won a pawn to enter a rook and pawns
endgame that should have been a draw according to the theory.
But Aronian missed his chances and Sasikiran’s King marched up in
quick time to get a wining position. The game lasted 69 moves.
Harikrishna, playing the black side of another Slav of the day, could
not find correct resources in a volatile situation and Akopian’s
pieces created havoc around black king to force resignation in 36
moves.
Ganguly played out a draw in just 17 moves against Sargissian but
Gopal had to sweat it hard before he could get a draw against
Petrosian. It was a level position for a long time but the Armenian
agreed to split the point only after 104 moves.
Russia and the United States now share the lead with eight match
points after the end of the fifth round. Russians have an edge as they
have 13 game points against America’s 12.5.
Greece stands seventh on four points, while Brazil and Egypt share the
eighth spot on two points each. The hosts Turkey are yet to open their
account.
Russia had it easy against Turkey in the fifth round as they
registered a fine 3.5-0.5 victory, while Azerbaijan trounced Egypt
3-1.
In other matches of the day the United States defeated Israel 2.5-1.5,
thanks to a brilliant game by their top board player Hikaru Nakamura
against World cup champion Boris Gelfand, and Greece scored a 3-1
victory over Brazil.
Four rounds still remain in the elite team event played on a round
robin basis between 10 sides.
Results (Round V):
India (7) drew with Armenia (7) (Krishnan Sasikiran beat Levon
Aronian, Vladimir Akopian beat P Harikrishna, S S Ganguly drew with
Gabriel Sargissian, Tigran Petrosian drew with G N Gopal); Russia (8)
beat Turkey (0) 3.5-0.5; Israel (6) lost to United States (8) 1.5-2.5;
Egypt (2) lost to Azerbaijan (6) 1-3; Brazil (2) lost to Greece (4)
1-3.
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