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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