International Master Tania Sachdev crashed through the defences of US champion Sabina Foisor to guide the Indian women team to a 2.5-1.5 victory in the second round of world women's team chess championship, here today.
On what turned out to be a successful day after a draw with higher-ranked Georgia in the opener, the other three boards ended in a draw. D Harika signed the peace treaty very early against Anna Zatonskih, Padmini Rout salvaged what was a worse endgame against Katrina Nemcova while S Vijayalakshmi got lucky and survived against Akshita Gorti.
The victory took Indian ladies to joint second spot on three points, coming from one draw and a victory. After beating arch rivals China in the first round, the Russian women continued with their impressive run and handed a 3-1 defeat to Vietnam.
Russia emerged as the sole leader on four points and they are now followed by Poland, India and Ukraine on three points apiece. Vietnam, Azerbaijan and Georgia have two points each for a shared fifth spot and shockingly enough, China just has one point for the sole eighth spot in the ten players event. Expectedly, USA and Egypt are at the bottom of the tables, yet to open their account.
In the open section, the Indian men missed out their chances and lost to China 1.5-2.5. Vidit Gujarathi drew with Ding Liren on the top board and Parimarjan Negi drew with Li Chao on the fourth.
It was on the second board that B Adhiban slipped and lost to Yu Yangyi while Krishnan Sasikiran missed on a tactical trick that would have yielded a much superior position against Wei Yi and drew.
With second loss in as many matches, the Indian men are currently at the back of the pack but surely bouncing back is much on cards and might happen in the next round itself when they meet Belarus.
Poland and China share the lead in the open section with four points while Russia follow them a point behind. Ukraine, Turkey, Usa and Norway share the fourth spot on two points each while Belarus is on eight spot with one point. India and Egypt are on the joint ninth spot.
Results round 2 open: China (4) beat India (0) 2.5-1.5; (Ding Liren drew with Vidit Gujarathi; B Adhiban lost to Yu Yangyi; Wei Yi drew with Krishnan Sasikiran; Parimarjan Negi drew with Li Chao); Belarus (1) drew with Ukraine (2) 2-2; Russia (3) drew with Turkey (2) 2-2; Poland (4) beat USA (2) 2.5-1.5; Norway (2) beat Egypt (0) 2.5-1.5;
(Women): USA (0) lost to India (3) 1.5-2.5; (Anna Zatonskih drew with D Harika; Tania Sachdev beat Sabina Foisor; Katrina Nemcova drew with Padmini Rout; S Vijayalakshmi drew with Akshita Gorti); Vietnam (2) lost to Russia (4); Ukraine (3) drew with China (1); Azerbaijan (2) beat Egypt (0); Georgia (2) drew with Poland (3).
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