Chess Olympiad: Indian Men Hold Russia; Women Draw With US

Anand came up with a brilliant counter attack to hold Ian Nepomniachtchi to a draw on the top board.

India’s Viswanathan Anand in action against Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in the sixth round.

(Photo: Twitter/@BatumiChess2018)

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand helped Indian men hold second seeds Russia to a draw in the sixth round of the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi in Georgia on Sunday.

Anand was in a much worse position according to computer assessment and this was the day when the machine was proven wrong as the Indian ace came up with a brilliant counter attack to hold Ian Nepomniachtchi to a draw on the top board.

While the Russians had figured their chances on the top board, P Harikrishna held mighty Vladimir Kramnik to a draw on the second board while Vidit Gujrathi and B Adhiban drew with Nikita Vituigov and Dmitry Jakovenko on the last two boards to restore parity.

Indian Women’s Team won a long hard fought match against Poland in the fourth round.(Photo: Twitter/@chesscom)

The Indian women came almost close to beating sole leaders United States but eventually had to settle for a draw.

Koneru Humpy and Tania Sachdev did the trick on board one and three playing white by winning their respective games but black pieces seemed a curse on the day as D Harika and Eesha Karavade suffered a defeat to let USA remain in joint lead.

With fives rounds still to come, Azerbaijan and Poland lead the open section displaying superlative efforts.

Azerbaijan and Poland defeated Czech Republic and Ukraine respectively.

Azerbaijan trounced Czech Republic 3-1 while Ukraine were aided by a fine victory from Radoslav Wojtazsek to score 2.5-1.5 over Ukraine.

In the women's section, the top seed Russian lost again, going down to Armenia which makes it now a virtual lottery as Chinese women were also seen struggling in this round.