India registered wins in the women's and men's categories in the sixth round of the Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday.
B. Adhiban's clinical 66-move triumph over Erwin L’Ami gave India a 2.5-1.5 win over the Netherlands in the men's round. P. Harikrishna, Vidit Gujarathi and S. P. Sethuraman drew their games.
Adhiban, playing black, and L’Ami were locked in an even battle until the Dutchman erred twiceon the 36th and 42nd moves and lost two pawns. L’Ami, who chose to trade his rook for a knight and a pawn in the middle game, was now looking to defend his position. Adhiban played the endgame brilliantly and forced L’Ami to give up.
D. Harika and Soumya Swaminathan ensured India's victory over Latvia in the women's category. Soumya's 81-move win over Inguna Erneste took her 2.5 points to Latvia's 1.5.
This is possibly the only time in the history of the premier event that India holds the pole position in the open section. This was made possible after USA stopped the another joint-leader Ukraine.
The results (sixth round):-
Open: Men
India (12) beat Netherlands (10) 2.5-1.5 (P. Hari Krishna drew with Anish Giri; B. Adhiban bt Erwin L’Ami; Vidit Gujarathi drew with Loek van Wely; S. P. Sethuraman drew with Benjamin Bok)
USA (11) bt Ukraine (10) 2.5-1.5; Czech Republic (10) drew with Georgia (10) 2-2; Greece (9) drew with Azerbaijan 1 (9) 2-2; Canada (10) bt Belarus (8) 2.5-1.5; Germany (8) lost to Russia (10) 1-3; China (10) bt Argentina (8) 2.5-1.5.
Open: Women
India (10) beat Latvia (8) 2.5-1.5 (D. Harika bt Dana Reizniece-Ozola; Padmini Rout drew with Laura Rogule; Tania Sachdev lost to Ilze Berzina; Soumya Swaminathan bt Inguna Erneste)
Ukranie (11) drew with Russia (11) 2-2; Romania (10) drew with China (10) 2-2; Kazakhstan (9) drew with Hungary (9) 2-2; Georgia (9) drew with Azerbaijan 1 (10) 2-2; Poland (10) bt Vietnam (8) 3-1.
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