Istanbul Chess Olympiad: Indian Men Finish 35th, Women 4th! Abhijeet Gupta Wins Individual Silver; Tania Sachdev Wins Individual Bronze

Armenia is World Chess Olympiad Champions 2012

Photos: David Llada, Arman Karakhanyan

The last round at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul was as exciting as it could get with the results being decided with tiebreaks after all the final games were played! Indian men finished with the 35th place below their seeding of ninth. Indian women finished with the fourth place above their seeding of sixth. National Champion Abhijeet Gupta picked up an individual Silver Medal as board prize for the fourth board. Tania Sachdev picked up an individual bronze medal as board prize for the third board.

Indian women on their way to beating France in the last round and finishing fourth at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad.

The Final round saw India lose to Azerbaijan with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beating Pentala Harikrishna. All other boards were draw. Indian women beat France in an exciting match.

Bo.	7	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Rtg	-	13	India (IND)	Rtg	2½:1½
9.1	GM	Safarli, Eltaj	2620	-	GM	Sasikiran, Krishnan	2707	½ - ½
9.2	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2729	-	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	2685	1 - 0
9.3	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2634	-	GM	Negi, Parimarjan	2664	½ - ½
9.4	GM	Guseinov, Gadir	2613	-	GM	Gopal, Geetha Narayanan	2550	½ - ½

Bo.	14	France (FRA)	Rtg	-	6	India (IND)	Rtg	1½:2½
4.1	IM	Skripchenko, Almira	2442	-	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2503	0 - 1
4.2	IM	Milliet, Sophie	2411	-	IM	Sachdev, Tania	2379	½ - ½
4.3	WGM	Maisuradze, Nino	2284	-	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann	2396	1 - 0
4.4	WIM	Bollengier, Andreea	2253	-	WGM	Soumya, Swaminathan	2271	0 - 1

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad Round 10: Indian Men Draw with Cuba, Women Beat Israel; Abhijeet, Tania in with Chance to Win Board Prize!

Tania Sachdev-Going for 
gold medal Board prize for 
India! Photo: David Llada

The tenth round at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul saw the Indian men drawing with Cuba and the Indian women beating Israel 3.5-0.5. Grandmasters Abhijeet Gupta and Parimajan Negi beat Yuniesky Quezada Perez and Yusnel Bacallao Alonso on the third and fourth boards. Both Sasikiran and Harikrishna lost.  Abhijeet Gupta and Tania Sachdev are in with a chance for a board prize! Saturday is a rest day and the final round will be played on Sunday.  Here are the tenth-round results: 

Top Board Harika Dronavalli. Photo: David Llada 

Bo.	13	India (IND)	Rtg	-	15	Cuba (CUB)	Rtg	2 : 2
9.1	GM	Sasikiran, Krishnan	2707	-	GM	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	2725	0 - 1
9.2	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	2685	-	GM	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	2711	0 - 1
9.3	GM	Negi, Parimarjan	2664	-	GM	Quesada Perez, Yuniesky	2626	1 - 0
9.4	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2637	-	IM	Bacallao Alonso, Yusnel	2583	1 - 0

Bo.	6	India (IND)	Rtg	-	25	Israel (ISR)	Rtg	3½: ½
5.1	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2503	-	WIM	Porat, Maya	2295	1 - 0
5.2	IM	Sachdev, Tania	2379	-	WIM	Efroimski, Marsel	2174	1 - 0
5.3	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann	2396	-	IM	Klinova, Masha	2317	½ - ½
5.4	WGM	Soumya, Swaminathan	2271	-	WFM	Shvayger, Yuliya	2202	1 - 0

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad R9: Russia Loses to USA; Indian Men Draw with Georgia, Women Lose to Russia

India's top board -
the very strong K Sasikiran
Photo: David Llada

Round 9 was played at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul on Thursday. The Indian team did their best to draw with Georgia in the open section. The Indian women's team did their best to hold up against Russia, but lost because of the very high rating of their opponents. Two more rounds are to be played. Though, the Indian men are out of medal contention, the Indian women have an easy tenth round against Israel and could be well on the winning dias after Round 11.

Results Round 9 @ 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul
Georgia (GEO)-India (IND) 2 : 2
9.1 GM Mchedlishvili, Mikheil 2659-GM Sasikiran, Krishnan 2707 ½ - ½
9.2 GM Gagunashvili, Merab 2578-GM Harikrishna, Pentala 2685 ½ - ½
9.3 GM Sanikidze, Tornike 2585-GM Gupta, Abhijeet 2637 0 - 1
9.4 GM Pantsulaia, Levan 2575-GM Gopal, Geetha Narayanan 2550 1 - 0

India-Russia 1 : 3
2.1 GM Dronavalli, Harika 2503-GM Kosintseva, Tatiana 2530 ½ - ½
2.2 IM Karavade, Eesha Sanjay 2371-IM Gunina, Valentina 2507 0 - 1
2.3 IM Sachdev, Tania 2379-GM Kosintseva, Nadezhda 2524 ½ - ½
2.4 WGM Soumya, Swaminathan 2271-GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2489 0 - 1

Standings after Round 9 have India in the nineteenth place in the open section and twelfth place in the women's section. Here are the pairings for Round 10 which you can watch live from India time 5.30 pm at the official website. A live video feed is available at this link.

Top board for Indian women - the talented Harika Dronavalli Photo: Arman Karakhanyan

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad Round 8: Indian Men Draw with Serbia, Women Beat Vietnam

Russia beat Ukraine in Round 8

The eighth round at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul saw India draw with Serbia. The board results included GM Sasikiran, Krishnan (2707) losing to GM Ivanisevic, Ivan (2645), GM Harikrishna, Pentala (2685) drawing with GM Perunovic, Milos (2614), GM Negi, Parimarjan (2664) drawing with GM Sedlak, Nikola (2549) and GM Gopal, Geetha Narayanan (2550) beat GM Popovic, Dusan (2579).

In the women's section, the Indian team beat Vietnam nicely with the board results being WGM Le Thao Nguyen, Pham (2393) drawing with GM Dronavalli, Harika (2503), WIM Thi Mai Hung, Nguyen (2212) beating IM Karavade, Eesha Sanjay (2371), WIM Kieu Thien Kim, Le (2226) losing to IM Sachdev, Tania (2379) and WIM Bich Ngoc, Pham (2172) losing to WGM Gomes, Mary Ann (2396).

The Philippines beat England

Three more rounds are to be played. Indian men play Georgia and women take on Russia on Thursday.
Georgia (GEO)-India (IND)
9.1 GM Mchedlishvili, Mikheil 2659 - GM Sasikiran, Krishnan 2707
9.2 GM Gagunashvili, Merab 2578 - GM Harikrishna, Pentala 2685
9.3 GM Sanikidze, Tornike 2585 - GM Gupta, Abhijeet 2637
9.4 GM Pantsulaia, Levan 2575 - GM Gopal, Geetha Narayanan 2550
India (IND)-Russia (RUS)

2.1 GM Dronavalli, Harika 2503 - GM Kosintseva, Tatiana 2530

2.2 IM Karavade, Eesha Sanjay 2371 - IM Gunina, Valentina 2507

2.3 IM Sachdev, Tania 2379 - GM Kosintseva, Nadezhda 2524

2.4 WGM Soumya, Swaminathan 2271 - GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2489

Rank after eight rounds in Open section @ Istanbul Chess Olympiad
Russia has a cool 15 points. China, Armenia, USA, Germany and the Philippines are right behind with 13 points each. Azerbaijan, Ukraine, the Netherlands, France, Israel, Argentina and Poland are in third place with 12 points each. In joint fourth place are (hold your breath) Hungary, India, Georgia, England, Uzbekistan, Czech Republic, Serbia, Belarus, FYROM, Vietnam, Italy, Slovenia, Denmark, Brazil and Austria! (in that order of tiebreaks.) That puts India in a current standing of 15th place.

Rank after eight rounds in Women's section @ Istanbul Chess Olympiad
Among the women, China is leading with 14 points. In joint second place are Russia, France, India and Uzbekistan. According to tiebreak points, India is right there in for a medal contention at fourth place! In joint third place are Ukraine, USA, Poland, Kazakhstan and Armenia.

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad Round 7: Russians on the Rampage; Indian Men Draw with Argentina; Women Beat Estonia

Parimarjan Negi

This is going to be surely the best India has ever done at the Chess Olympiads. In the seventh round, at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, India held Argentina to a creditable draw. There were fighting games on all boards despite what the scoresheet reads.

Round 7 Results

Argentina-India

1 GM Peralta, Fernando (2606) ½-½ GM Sasikiran, Krishnan (2707)

2 GM Flores, Diego (2589) ½-½ GM Harikrishna, Pentala (2685)
3 GM Felgaer, Ruben (2570) 1-0 GM Negi, Parimarjan (2664)
4 GM Mareco, Sandro (2589) 0-1 GM Gupta, Abhijeet (2637)

In the women's section, India had a fantastic result.

Round 7 Results

Estonia-India

1 WIM Tsiganova, Monika (2164) 0-1 GM Dronavalli, Harika (2503)

2 WIM Fomina, Tatjana (2189) 0-1 IM Sachdev, Tania (2379)

3 WCM Narva, Triin (2028) 0-1 WGM Gomes, Mary Ann (2396)

4 WFM Narva, Regina (2042) 1-0 WGM Soumya, Swaminathan (2271)

Meanwhile, the seventh round brought another win for Russia as they beat Azerbaijan with three draws and a win by Alexander Grischuk on the second board in the open section. Grischuk continued to fight and corner Eltaj Safarli eventually breaking the latter's defense.

 

Abhijeet Gupta

Top standings after Round 7

Russia has 13 match points. China and Ukraine have 12 points each. Armenia, USA, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Germany, Uzbekistan and Philippines have 11 points each.

Armenia had another tough match this time against China on table two. Sergei Movsesian, who yesterday saved his team in the clash with Russia, fell victim to Wang Yue's counterattack. With the other three games being drawn, China celebrated an important victory that leaves them on the shared second place, right behind Russia. (Photos: David Llada)

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad Round 5: India Draw with England; Women Lose to China

Levon Aronian before the start of his game that would see Vassily Ivanchuk demolished in Round 5 at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad. Photo: Arman Karakhanyan

Round 5 at thee Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012 saw India draw with England even as Parimarjan Negi let his former teacher, none other than GM Nigel Short, escape! All the other games were drawn as well. In the women's section, India lost to China with losses on all the lower three boards. However, Dronavalli Harika did a fantastic job in drawing with Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan of China. 

Round 5 Open Section
India-England
1 GM Sasikiran, Krishnan (2707) ½-½ GM Adams, Michael (2722)
2 GM Harikrishna, Pentala (2685) ½-½ GM Jones, Gawain (2653)
3 GM Negi, Parimarjan (2664) ½-½ GM Short, Nigel (2698)
4 GM Gupta, Abhijeet (2637) ½-½ GM Pert, Nicholas (2555)

Round 5 Women's Section

China-India

1 GM Hou, Yifan (2599) ½-½ GM Dronavalli, Harika (2503)

2 GM Zhao, Xue (2549) 1-0 IM Karavade, Eesha Sanjay (2371)

3 WGM Ju, Wenjun (2528) 1-0 IM Sachdev, Tania (2379)

4 WGM Huang, Qian (2449) 1-0 WGM Gomes, Mary Ann (2396)

Meanwhile, on the first match table, two-time Chess Olympiad Champion Armenia beat defending champions Ukraine. World #2 Levon Aronian beat Vassily Ivanchuk with a nice exchange-up and follow-up tactics which were enough to win the match for Armenia as the other games were drawn 2,5-1,5. 

Russia comfortably beat Hungary on the second board on the basis of Alexander Grischuk's attacking win over Zoltan Almasi with a score of 2,5-1,5. Meanwhile, the Azeri and Chinese teams beat Canada and Iran 3,5-0,5 even as France lost to Croatia 2,5-1,5. USA drew with the Czech Republic. Sunday was a rest day and all the live action resumed on Monday with live games via the official website at 5.30 pm India time. (Left Photo: David Llada)

Monday's match-up for India are as follows:

India-Israel

1. GM Sasikiran, Krishnan (2707) - GM Gelfand, Boris (2738)

2. GM Harikrishna, Pentala (2685) - GM Sutovsky, Emil (2687)

3. GM Negi, Parimarjan (2664) - GM Rodshtein, Maxim (2642)

4. GM Gupta, Abhijeet (2637) - GM Avrukh, Boris (2605)

India-Germany

1. GM Dronavalli, Harika (2503)-WGM Paehtz, Elisabeth (2483)

2. IM Karavade, Eesha Sanjay (2371)-WGM Melamed, Tetyana (2356)

3. IM Sachdev, Tania (2379)-WGM Ohme, Melanie (2337)

4. WGM Soumya, Swaminathan (2271)-WGM Michna, Marta (2380)

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad R4: Indian men Draw with USA; Women Draw with Serbia

Yes, she's a chess player in Istanbul...
(Photo: Arman Karakhanyan)

The Indian team had an excellent draw on the top board against the USA in the fourth round of the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012 considering that they were rated below the American team. It is another matter that Indian could have won on the first board as well and created an upset!

Round 4 on 2012/08/31
United States Of America - India 2 : 2
1.1 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2778 - GM Sasikiran, Krishnan 2707 1 - 0
1.2 GM Kamsky, Gata 2746 - GM Harikrishna, Pentala 2685 0 - 1
1.3 GM Onishuk, Alexander 2666 - GM Negi, Parimarjan 2664 ½ - ½
1.4 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2617 - GM Gupta, Abhijeet 2637 ½ - ½

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad R2: India Men Beat Turkey 3-1; Indian Women Beat Australia 3.5-0.5

Indian star leader
GM Krishnan Sasikiran

Indian chess teams chalked up their second straight wins in the second round at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad on Wednesday in both the open and women's sections. 

On Board 13, India beat Turkey 3-1. GM Krishnan Sasikiran beat IM Burak Firat and GM Abhijeet Gupta beat CM Vahap Sanal. GM Parimarjan Negi picked up a draw against FM Ali Marandi and GM Gopal, Geetha Narayanan drew with CM Dastan Muhammed Batuhan. 

None other than one of
Asia's greatest women
chess players -
WIM Rani Hamid
playing for Bangladesh

On Board 6, in the women's section, India beat Australia 3.5 to 0.5. IM Eesha Sanjay Karawade, IM Tania Sachdev and WGM Mary Ann Gomes picked up wins over WIM Arianne Caoili, Sally Yu and Giang Nguyen. WGM Soumya Swaminathan drew with WIM Bijana Novakovic-Dekic. 

Meanwhile, on the top boards, Ukraine, the defending champion defeated Qatar with a 3-1 score despite the loss by first board GM Vassily Ivanchuk to GM Mohamad Al-Modiahki. Ivanchuk was slightly better with black but he carelessly allowed the enemy queen to sneak into the back rank. Ivanchuk immediately resigned, declining attempts to seek compensation for the piece. The United States beat Lithuania 3.5-0.5 after Hikaru Nakamura finally broke down the stubborn resistance of Grecian GM Vidmantas Malisauskas in a marathon 107-moves long game. Azerbaijan had no difficulty dispatching their Irish opponents, however the young talent FM Ryan Rhys Griffiths managed to steal the only draw for his team in the game against the seasoned Azeri GM Rauf Mamedov.

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad R1: Indian Teams Begins with 4-0 Wins in Both Open, Women's Sections

 Opening ceremony dance at Istanbul Chess Olympiad

 

Indian men and women chess teams have begun the Istanbul Olympiad Chess Olympiad with 4-0 victory over Wales and FYROM, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. P Harikrishna, Parimarjan Negi, Abhijeet Gupta and G N Gopal beat Wales' Richard Joneslost, Tim Kett, Richard Dineley and Lolo Jones respectively. 

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad: First Round Today Watch Live from 5.30 PM

A record-breaking 158 countries will start off with the first round at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad in Turkey today at 15:00 local time (India time 5.30 pm). You can watch live at the official website. The live video feed is at this link. The drawing of colours took place during the opening ceremony at the WOW Convention center in Istanbul. The ceremony began with the national anthem of Turkey, followed by a tribute to chess players in history, traditional dances and programmes. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Minister of Youth and Sports Suat Kilic, and the Turkish Chess Federation President Ali Nihat Yazici greeted the participants. 

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Pak Chess Kid Heads to Istanbul Chess Olympiad at Age 11

It's always a pleasure to have chess news come in from Pakistan that is only beginning to witness chess at the national level. We thank our readers who have pointed out the following videos of 11-year-old Mehak Gul Zahid. It is her father who has inspired her to take chess and she is now going to be one of the youngest participants at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012. Gul has been playing chess since she was six and recently qualified for the national team. A student of the Lahore Garrison School in Township, Gul won school chess championship back in 2010 after which she participated in the Punjab Chess Championship in June this year. She came third in the competition. Enjoy the videos.

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Smartphone Chess Updates App for Android/iPhone - Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012

There is lot of excitement in the chess world as soon it is going to be showtime at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012 (Aug 27-Sept 10). You can access the official website of the event at this link. Keep track of all the updates, wins, pairings, photos and more with these fantastic smartphone apps. Here are the iPhone and Android apps. The Android application: “World Chess Olympiad 2012” developed for 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, is available in Google Play Store. Use search or the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kocakcan.chessOlympiad

For the iPhone application, go to the Appstore and search or use the following link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chess-2012/id553296652?ls=1&mt=8

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Indian Chess Teams Set for FIDE Chess Olympiad 2012 in Istanbul Aug 27-Sept 10

The 40th FIDE World Chess Olympiad will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, 27 August - 10 September. A record-breaking 162 nations have registered for the competition with more than 1700 players and captains. The arrival of delegations is underway and the opening ceremony will take place August 27th at 21:30 local time (20:30 CET) in the WOW Convention Center. The ceremony will be broadcasted live in 4 languages simultaneously. The first round begins August 28th at 15:00.

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