World Youth Chess Olympiad: India Green finishes runner-up
India Green crushed Kazakhstan 3.5-0.5 in the final round match to take its tally to 15 points, one behind Russia. India's Nihal and Iniyan won individual gold while Vaishali grabbed a silver.
Published : Dec 18, 2017 19:20 IST
On the day the results of the Assembly Election in this State went along the expected lines, India Green predictably took the runner-up spot at the World Youth Chess Olympiad.
The main team of the host crushed Kazakhstan 3.5-0.5 in the final round match to take its tally to 15 points, one behind Russia, which had won the title with a round to spare.
The Russians, however, were in for a shock at the Karnavati Club on Monday, as it was humbled by India Red 2.5-1.5. Iran, with 14 points, finished third.
There was more joy for the host, with three of its players – Nihal Sarin, P. Iniyan and R. Vaishali — winning individual medals.
India Green’s coach Prasenjit Datta said he was happy that his decision to play Iniyan on the fourth paid off. “He was fantastic in this tournament, scoring 7.5 points from eight rounds,” he said.
“We are of course disappointed that we could only take the second place despite being the top seed. The poor form of Aryan Chopra on the top board was a huge setback for us.”
Important results (final round):
India Red beat Russia 2.5-1.5 (Rajdeep Sarkar lost to Semen Lomasov; S. Jayakumar drew with Sergei Lobanov; Arjun Erigaisi beat Timur Fakhrutdinov; Mitrabha Guha beat Alexandra Obolensteva).
Kazakhstan lost to India Green 0.5-3.5 (Kazybek Nogerbek drew with R. Praggnanandhaa; Ramazan Zhalmakhanov lost to Nihal Sarin; Tamerlan Bekturov lost to R. Vaishali).
Iran beat Belarus 4-0. Armenia beat Malaysia 3-1.
Uzbekistan beat India Blue 2.5-1.5 (Nodirbek Yakubboev drew with Kushagra Mohan; Shamsiddin Vokhidov drew with Rahul Srivatshav; Saidakbar Saydaliev beat Rakesh Kumar Jena).
The standings: 1. Russia 16 points; 2. India Green 15; 3. Iran 14; 4-5. Armenia and India Red 12; 6-7. Turkey and Uzbekistan 11; 8-12. Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Israel, Mongolia and Belarus 10.
Individual medals:
First board: 1. Semen Lomasov (Rus); 2. Amin Tabatabaei (Ira); 3. Nodirbek Yakbboev (Uzb).
Second board: 1. Alireza Firouzja (Ira); 2. Shant Sargsyan (Arm); 3. Sergei Lobanov (Rus).
Third board: 1. Nihal Sarin (Ind); 2. Aryan Gholami (Ira); 3. Artur Gaifullin (Rus).
Fourth board: 1. P. Iniyan (Ind); 2. Timur Fakhrutdinov (Rus); 3. Elroy Tarigan (Ina).
Fifth board: 1. Sumiya Chinguun (Mng); 2. Tamerlan Bekturov (Kaz); 3. Alexandra Obolentseva (Rus).
Best girl: 1. Anna Sargsyan (Arm); 2. R. Vaishali (Ind); 3. Sitora Saparova (Uzb).