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India bounce back in Chess Olympiad

Brushing aside the fourth round debacle, India’s men’s and women’s teams bounced back with resounding victories over Montenegro and Austria, respectively, in the fifth round of the 41st Chess Olympiad now underway here.

On what turned out to be a good day for the men, Parimarjan Negi, S P Sethuraman and Krishnan Sasikiran came up with fine victories while B Adhiban had to settle for a draw. Starting with white pieces, Negi scored over Nikola Djukic quite easily while S P Sethuraman continued with his fine act in the event and added Dragisa Blagojevic to his list of scalps. Krishnan Sasikiran was also at his best in crushing Milan Drasko but Adhiban could not make it a clean sweep as he struggled before drawing with Dragan Kosic.

The Indian eves dominated their Austrian counterparts on all boards and the 4-0 victory was a huge morale booster ahead of the first rest day. Veronika Exler was on the receiving end against highest rated Indian girl Dronavalli Harika while Esha Karavade found her winning touch at the expense of Katherina Newrkla. A struggling Mary Ann Gomes was the other Indian to strike form as she outplayed Julia Novkovic and on the fourth board Padimi Rout continued to impress defeating Elisabeth Hapala.

With six rounds still to come, the men’s team improved their position to joint 25th and another victory can take them closer to the top 10. The women’s team jumped up to joint 19th spot.
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