World Team Chess Championship 2017: Indian men beat Ukraine, women draw with China

Khanty-Mansiysk: B Adhiban rose to the occasion to deliver the goods as the Indian men stayed afloat in the World Team Chess Championship after beating third seed Ukraine 2.5-1.5.

The Indian eves also came up with an inspired performance to hold top seed China by a 2-2 draw with Padmini Rout guiding the team to equalise after they fell behind by 1-2 margin.

Adhiban was the star of the day as he beat Anton Korobov from the white side of a French defense.

It was a brilliant display of positional chess from Adhiban yet again. Interestingly, India has won most of the matches when Adhiban won and the match against Ukraine was no exception.

On the other board for India, Vidit Gujarathi had to defend for long but he continued to be invincible as he held a long drawn endgame against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov.

Krishnan Sasikiran also held on to his own against Alexander Areshchenko who played white, while Parimarjan Negi did his bit against Alexander Moiseenko to see the team through.

China emerged as the new sole leader and it looks like they are assured of the gold medal after they beat Russia 2.5 -1.5.

The Russian men were relegated to the second spot on 11 points and they are followed by Poland on 10 points.

The Indian men are currently fourth having nine points and the next match will decide their fate as they meet Russia.

In the women’s section, the Indian eves did well to hold formidable China and Padmini provided the equaliser after Eesha Karavade had faltered.

Padmini defeated Guo Ki in a mesmerising display of endgame skills while Eesha lost to Lei Tingzi.

On the other boards, the Indians did well as D Harika held higher ranked Ju Wenjun to a draw while Tania Sachdev drew against current world champion Tan Zhongyi.

It’s a race for the medal if Indian eves can win the next two matches against lower ranked rivals Vietnam and Azerbaijan.

For the records, Russia and Ukraine share the lead here on 12 points each and the Indian team is on eight points.

Results after Round 7 Open: India (9) beat Ukraine (4) 2.5-1.5 (Ruslan Ponomariov drew with Vidit Gujarathi; B Adhiban beat Anton Korobov; Alexander Areshchenko drew with Krishnan Sasikiran; Parimarjan Negi drew with Alexander Moiseenko); Turkey (8) lost to USA (8) 1-3; Egypt (0) lost to Belarus (6) 0.5-3.5; Russia (11) lost to China (12) 1.5-2.5; Norway (2) lost to Poland (10) 1.5-2.5.

Women: India (8) drew with China 2-2 (D Harika drew with Ju Wenjun; Tania Sachdev drew with Tan Zhongyi; Lei Tingzi beat Eesha Karavade; Padmini Rout beat Guo Qi); Russia (12) beat Poland (7) 3.5-0.5; Vietnam (5) drew with USA (5); Egypt (0) lost to Ukraine 1.5-2.5; Azerbaijan (4) lost to Georgia (8) 1-3.