India, Vietnam stun rated opponents

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India, Vietnam stun rated opponents
Vietnam's women's chess players spare a moment for the camera before shocking India

Dubai - Chinese men shocked as Asian Team chess gains pace

By KT Report

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Published: Sat 2 Apr 2016, 1:06 PM

Last updated: Sat 2 Apr 2016, 3:10 PM

India stunned defending champions China 2.5-1.5 to surge ahead at the halfway mark of the men's Asian Nations Cup Chess Team Championship organised by the UAE Chess Federation under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation at the Novotel Abu Dhabi Al Bustan hotel.
However, the promising Vietnamese squad shot down the highly rated Indian side in the parallel women's tournament to gain the sole lead.
India's onslaught on board was given the near perfect beginning by GM B. Adhiban who used the Slav Defence to beat Chinese ace GM Bu Xiangzhi in 68 moves. Wang Yue countered for China on board two essaying the Petroff Defence to beat S.P. Sethuraman. GM Vidit Santos Gujrathi won for India against youthful Wei Yi in in 34 moves of a Giuoco Piano. GM Krishnan Sasikiran sealed the victory for India by holding China's Lu Shanglei to a draw in 57 moves of a Sicilian Scheveningen.
India stands alone with 9 match points followed closely behind by China, Iran and Bangladesh with 8 match points each. A team earns two match points for a win and one match point for a draw. Game points over four boards shall break the tie.
Iran crushed Mongolia 3-1 on wins by GM Darini Pouria, Parham Magsoodloo and Alireza Firouzja over GM Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa, GM Tsegmed Batchuluun and IM Gombosuren Munkhgal, respectively. Teenager Sumiya Bilguun of Mongolia beat Masoud Mosadeghpoou to prevent a shutout.
Bangladesh smashed Iraq 3.5-0.5 on wins by GM Niaz Murshed, IM Minhaz Uddin Mohammad and GM Enamul Hossain while Akar Ali Salih of Iraq held Al Rakib Molliah Abdullah to a draw. In other matches, Kazkahstan edged Vietnam 2.5-1.5; Uzbekistan blanked Kyrgyzstan 4-0; UAE-1 outclassed UAE-2 by 3.5-0.5; Lebanon whitewashed Jordan 3.5-0.5; Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan 2.5-1.5; Oman beat Kuwait 3-1; Palestine surprised UAE-3 3-1 and Tajikistan drew 2-2 with Nepal.
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are tied for 5th slot with 7 match points each followed by Mongolia, UAE-1, Iraq, Lebanon and Sri Lanka with 6 match points each. Vietnam has 5 match points followed by Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Oman, Jordan and UAE-2 with 4 match points each, Tajijkistan, Afghanistan and Kuwait with 2 match points each and UAE-3 and Nepal with 1 match point each.
In the women's division, Le Thao Nguyen Pham and Hoang Thi Bao Tram scored for Vietnam over India's Harika Dronavalli and Tania Sachdev, respectively. Nguyen Thi Mai Hung assured the win for Vietnam with a draw against Padmini Rout. Swaminathan Soumya of India used the Gruenfeld defense to beat Nguyen Thi Thanh An in 32 moves.
In other women's matches, Iran blanked Sri Lanka 4-0, Kazakhstan beat UAE-1 by 3.5-0.5, China shut out UAE-2 4-0 and Uzbekistan beat Mongolia 3-1.
The Vietnam women lead alone with 10 match points followed by China with 9, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan 8, India 7, Iran 4, Mongolia 2, Sri Lanka and UAE-2 with 1 and UAE-1 still scoreless.
moni@khaleejtimes.com


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