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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World Chess Administration: Agon Limited Appoints GM Robert Fontaine!

GM Robert Fontaine

International chess Grandmaster Robert Fontaine has joined Agon Limited, the rights holder to the World Chess Championship cycle, as chief of staff to founder-and-chief executive Andrew Paulson.

GM Fontaine, the six-times under-20 youth champion for France, becomes a principal aide as Mr Paulson implements his strategy to organise and commercialise the ongoing World Chess Championship cycles, starting with the opening Grand Prix for the 2012/2013 cycle at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand in London in September.

GM Fontaine has won a number of international chess tournaments over his playing career, including Las Vegas in 2006, Stockholm in 2007 and Paleohora in 2009. He became a Grandmaster in 2002 and a member of the Olympiad chess team in 2004. He is also known as a presenter for Europe-Echecs, where he interviewed champion players and politicians for video reportage on the world’s leading chess events. 

Agon Founder Andrew Paulson

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad R3 - Both Indian Teams Continue Winning Spree

GM P Harikrishana
flying the Indian flag high

Indian teams at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012 continued with a steady performance winning the third round in both the open and women's section. GMs P Harikrihsna and Abhijeet Gupta beat former world chess championship candidate Alexander Beliavsky and Malej Sebenik for a 3-1 victory. The other two games were draw. Tania Sachdev scored an important win for India over Lilit Galojan even as other three boards were draw. Both the teams play the fourth round on the top board. Eight more rounds have to be played and the tough part begins now.

Indian pairings for Round 4 are as follows:

United States Of America - India 
1.1 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2778 - GM Sasikiran, Krishnan 2707
1.2 GM Kamsky, Gata 2746 - GM Harikrishna, Pentala 2685
1.3 GM Onishuk, Alexander 2666 - GM Negi, Parimarjan 2664
1.4 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2617 - GM Gupta, Abhijeet 2637

India - Serbia 
1.1 GM Dronavalli, Harika 2503 - IM Bojkovic, Natasa 2392
1.2 IM Karavade, Eesha S 2371 - WGM Manakova, Maria 2304
1.3 IM Sachdev, Tania 2379 - WIM Rakic, Marija 2300
1.4 WGM Gomes, Mary Ann 2396 - WGM Benderac, Ana 2266

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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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Give Garry Kasparov Your Best Answer for His Lecture in S. Africa @ The Discovery Invest Leadership Summit

Legendary world chess champion Garry Kasparov will be speaking at The Discovery Invest Leadership Summit event on August 30. The Discovery Invest Leadership Summit showcases brilliant minds, giving the South African business community access to leading-edge leadership thinking."

Venue: Sandton Convention Centre, Gauteng, South Africa
Bookings: Telephone +27 (0)86 100-0749

Your comment could be part of Garry Kasparov's speech at the event! On his Facebook page, Kasparov has sought comments: "Speaking here on the 30th. Glad I am able to travel! A question for you: Would you rather work at an established company whose business will be obsolete in 20 years, or in a startup whose business might change the world 20 years (but that might fail)? Be honest! I'll share the best answers with my audience in South Africa." 

Go on, post your answers there.

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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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