Indian eves shocked by Kazakhstan
PTI | Apr 19, 2015, 11.06 PM IST
Official website: http://chengdu2015.fide.com/en/main-page
CHENGDU: Playing as the FIDE President nominee, the Indian eves suffered a shocking 1.5-.25 defeat against Kazakhstan in the first round of the World Women Team Chess Championship on Sunday.
Koneru Humpy had little trouble with her black pieces while Dronavalli Harika was at her tactical best but the Indian girls disappointed on the last two boards as Padmini Rout failed to live up to her favourite tag and on the fourth board, Mary Ann Gomes was grinded gradually.
Seeded fifth in the event and eying a medal, this was a shocking result for the team as all Indian players were ranked higher on rating points than their today’s opponents.
Humpy drew on the top board against Zhansaya Abdumalik who is arguably the brightest young talent on the horizon. The Indians got an early lead when Harika outplayed her opponent Dinara Saduakassova on the second board.
On the third board, however, it was a shocking defeat for Padmini Rout who clearly struggled against Guliskhan Nakhbayeva right from the word go from her Grundfeld defense as black.
After Rout lost, trying to fight out an inferior position in the middle game, it was all left to Mary Ann Gomes on the last board to salvage a bad position.
Mary Ann could have had a struggle on hand if she had not gone wrong from a level position in the middle game arising out a Reti opening. The Indian, however, lost the plot while trying to figure out a victory from a worse position.
As it happened, the Kolkata girl could not find the best moves with her clock ticking away and lost to Gulmira Dauletova.
In the biggest upset of the day, Ukraine lost to Poland by a whopping 0.5-3.5 margin with all their stars bowing to their Polish counterparts. The saving grace from a complete washout was Natalija Zhukova who salvaged a draw on the third board.
The Russians were also held to a draw by Georgia in another important encounter of the day. Bela Khotenashvili of Georgia beat Valentina Gunina on first board to help her team draw levels with the formidable Russians.
Results Round 1: Kazakhstan beat India 2.5-1.5 (Zhansaya Abdumalik drew with K Humpy; D Harika beat Dinara Sduakassova; Guliskhan Nakhbayeva beat Padmini Rout; Mary An n Gomes lost to Gulmira Dauletova); Georgia drew with Russia 2-2; Armenia lost to China 1-3; USA beat Egypt 3-1; Armenia lost to China 1-3; Ukraine lost to Poland 0.5-3.5.