USA and China Olympiad Champions; India finishes fourth in Men and fifth in Women

USA and China Olympiad Champions; India finishes fourth in Men and fifth in Women
By Gopakumar, International Arbiter

Indian Men team missed the podium by a whisker and finished at creditable fourth place in the 42nd Chess Olympiad which concluded at Baku, Azerbaijan on Tuesday.

In the final round, India held to a draw by Norway. Leading from the front, Harikrishna forced world champion Magnus Carlsen to sign the peace treaty while Vidit Gujarathi registered crucial victory over Aryan Tari and Adhiban drew his against Jon Ludvig Hammer with dark pieces. But Sethuraman’s lose against Frode Urkedal denied the Indian signing off from the Olympiad with a win.

Meanwhile the Indian women team seeded fifth finished at fifth position after splitting the point against USA in the final round. Tania secured victory over Anna Zatonskih while Harika and Soumya settled for half point against Irina Krush and Katerina Nemcova respectively. Padmini Rout lost to Nazi Paikidze made the score line 2 – 2.

In the open section, USA and Ukraine tied for the top spot after defeating Canada and Slovenia respectively in the final round but better tie break scored helped USA to finish at top while Ukraine satisfied with runner up position. Russia after beating Italy finished at third position.

In the women section, China clinched the title in style after defeating Russia in the final round. Poland finished at second position while Ukraine settled for third.