Anand led Indian team defeat Canada; India women’s team draw against Serbia

43rd Olympiad Batumi 2018 Open & Women

Photos Courtesy: Niklesh Jain/ ChessBase India

Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand led Indian Team to register a third straight victory. They had a comfortable win against lower-rated Team Canada with 3.5-0.5 in the third round of Open section of 43rd Chess Olympiad Batumi, Georgia on Wednesday.

On the first board, Reigning World Rapid Champion Viswanathan Anand continued his winning streak with a 33-move victory against GM Eric Hansen.

[iframe border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” width=”560″ height=”465″ src=”//www.chess.com/emboard?id=4485210″][/iframe]

India’s No.2 Grandmaster P. Harikrishna followed suit with a 33-move victory against GM Razvan Preotu.

[iframe border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” width=”560″ height=”465″ src=”//www.chess.com/emboard?id=4485212″][/iframe]

GM Vidit Gujrathi held veteran GM Evgeny Bareev to a draw after a 5+ hour marathon battle.

[iframe border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” width=”560″ height=”465″ src=”//www.chess.com/emboard?id=4485214″][/iframe]

 GM Sasikiran Krishnan captalized on 27.. Bb5.  A blunder commited by his Canadian couterpart GM Aman Hambleton.

[iframe border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” width=”560″ height=”465″ src=”//www.chess.com/emboard?id=4485222″][/iframe]

GM Adhiban Baskaran was rested in this round.

The Indian women’s team, playing on the top table made a crucial comeback to draw against Serbia with 2-2. GM Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika registered comfortable victories. However, IM Padmini Rout and IM Eesha Karavade stumbled against their respective lower-rated rivals.

Padmini and Eesha lost their games early. Humpy’s game was soon decided. In a must-win situation, Harika helped India escape the clutch of defeat from Serbia.

[iframe border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” width=”560″ height=”465″ src=”//www.chess.com/emboard?id=4485234″][/iframe]

IM Eesha Karavade suffered a loss against WIM Adela Velikic in 39 moves.

[iframe border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” width=”560″ height=”465″ src=”//www.chess.com/emboard?id=4485238″][/iframe]

IM Tania Sachdev was rested in this round.

Team pairings – Open

Team pairings – Women