Chess Olympiad: Indian men beat Egypt; women hold Georgia

World Rapid Champion Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Egyptian Grandmaster Amin B as India just managed to secure a 2.5-1.5 win against lowly Egypt in the 7th round of the 43rd chess Olympiad on Monday.

In the women section being held alongside, Indian women played out a hard-fought draw against experienced Georgia 1 team. All the games were drawn.

For the Indian men, it was a chance to register a big victory against the lower-rated Egyptian team in their quest for a position at the podium but the sailing was not so smooth as GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (rated 2711) lost playing white against his much lower-rated opponent International Master Fawzy A in a queen pawn game. Swift victories by P Harikrishna against GM Adly A and ever-reliable GM K Sasikairan against Hesham A took India to a 2.5-1.5 victory.

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The women section was much closely fought with all games ending in draws with none of the players achieving a breakthrough.

On the top board, India’s highest-rated women player Koneru Humpy, playing white, was held to a draw by Nana Dzagnidze in a dutch stonewall, D Harika drew Javakhishvili in a sicilian defense game on the second board, Arjun awardee Tania Sachdeva drew Batsiashvili on the third board.

In the fourth board also saw fortunes being equally divided between Padmini R and Khotenashvili.

Indian results (open): India beat Egypt 2.5-1.5 (Viswanathan Anand drew Amin B; Adly A lost to P Harikrishna ; Vidit Gujarati lost to Fawzy A; Hesham A lost to K Sasikiran) Women: India drew Georgia 3-1 (K. Humpy Drew Nana, Dzagnidze ; Javakhishvili drew D Harika; Tania Sachdev drew Batsiashvili ; Khotenashvili drew with Padmini R).