India Registers First Victory At Chengdu

India Registers First Victory At Chengdu
By Arvind Aaron

India registered its first victory in the World Women’s Team Chess Championship. India beat USA 3-1 with victories from the top board of Koneru Humpy and the jinxed fourth board.

All four Indians were higher rated and they proved the ratings right with a healthy 3-1 win. Humpy with black and Soumya Swaminathan with white were the two winners for India. Harika and Padmini drew in the middle boards.

The win by Soumya Swaminathan was important in the context that India had lost all its four previous rounds on that board.

One win, two draws, two defeats leave the Indians in sixth place in the ten team competition. Four rounds remain to be played. Georgia leads with nine match points followed by Russia 9, China 7, Armenia 6 and Ukraine 5.

India will take on Egypt, Georgia, Poland and Armenia in the last four games.

Georgia’s upcoming player Bela Khotenashvili beat Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine to set up her team’s 2.5-1.5 win in the important clash between two former Olympiad champion teams.

Kazakhstan held Armenia 2-2 and hosts China beat Poland 3-1. Russia recorded their first 4-0 sweep over Egypt.