Sasikiran, Vaishali and Padmini power India in the middle rounds

GM Krishnan Sasikiran (6/6) powered India through the middle rounds of the Asian Nations (Regions) Online Cup 2020. In the second phase of rounds 4 to 6, Indian men drew Indonesia and Kazakhstan 2-2, while defeating Jordan 3.5 – 0.5. After six rounds, Iran lead the table with 11 match points, followed by Australia and Kazakhstan at 10 points. India shared the fourth spot with Kyrgyzstan at 9 match points.

Losses by Sethuraman, Adhiban and Ganguly pegged India back, but Sasikiran carried the day with wins over FM Kurniawan, Muhamad Agus (Indonesia), Aboudi, Marwan (Jordan) and Makhnev, Denis (Kazakhstan). Giving able support to Sasikiran was GM Nihal Sarin who scored 2.5/3 in the second board. Nihal, fresh from winning the Junior Speed Chess Championship, came up with impressive wins over GM Megaranto, Susanto (Indonesia) and GM Khusnutdinov, Rustam (Kazakhstan).

WGM Vaishali R and IM Padmini Rout led Indian women’s team with 3/3 performance in the rounds 4 to 6, as Indian women swept past Myanmar (3.5 – 0.5), Singapore (4-0) and Indonesia (3-1). After six rounds, Indian women shared the lead with The Philippines and Iran With 10 match points. Mongolia and Kazakhstan followed the leaders with 9 match points.

Both Indian men & women, face The Philippines in the next round.