FIDE Online Chess Olympiad: India climb to top spot with three wins on Day 2

Chennai: India grabbed the top position in Group B at the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad after winning three matches in the Top Division on Thursday. The team led by former world champion Viswanathan Anand edged Belarus 3.5-2.5 after outclassing Shenzhen China 5-1 and Azerbaijan 4-2. India, joint winners of the title in 2020, lead the points table at the end of six rounds with 11 points ahead of Hungary, who are also on 11 on the basis of a better tie-break-2 score. India have won five matches and drawn one so far. France trail in third place with eight points while Azerbaijan are fourth with seven points. A team gets two points for a win and one for a draw. The top two teams from the group advance to the play-offs. In the match against Belarus, skipper Anand got the team off to a good start, beating Aleksej Aleksandrov taking advantage of an early blunder by his opponent. Bhakti Kulkarni played a key role, posting a win over Kseniya Norman. Vidit Gujrathi and Tania Sachdev drew their games while R Praggnanandhaa went down to Denis Lazavik. R Vaishali stole a draw in the final match against Kseniya Zelintsova to help India win 3.5-2.5. Earlier in the fifth round, Anand was held to a draw by Teimour Radjabov and Vidit shared honours with higher-rated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov before Koneru Humpy scored over Gunay Mammadzada. Young GM Nihal Sarin recorded an important victory, getting the better of Vugar Asadli while D Harika and R Vaishali secured draws. The strong Indian team had started the day with a comprehensive 5-1 win over Shenzhen China with Humpy’s loss at the hands of Xue Zhao being the setback. There were wins for P Harikrishna on the top board, B Adhiban, Bhakti Kulkarni, Nihal Sarin and Vaishali. India’s results: Sixth round: Beat Belarus 3.5-2.5 (V Anand beat Aleksej Alexsandrov, Vidit Gujrathi drew Alexei Fedorov, Tania Sachdev drew Aliaksandra Tarasenka, Bhakti Kulkarni beat Kseniya Norman, R Praggnanandhaa lost to Denis Lazavik, Vaishali drew with Kseniya Zeliantsova). Fifth round: Beat Azerbaijan 4-2 (Anand drew Radjabov, Vidit Gujrathi drew Mamedyarov, Humpy bt Gunay Mammadzada, Harika drew Guinar Mammadova, Sarin beat Vugar Asadli, Vaishali drew Khanim Balajayeva). Fourth round: Beat Shenzhen China 5-1 (Harikrishna beat Zeng Chongsheng, Adhiban beat Yu Ruiyan, Humpy lost to Xue Zhao, Bhakti Kulkarni beat Xu Tong, Sarin beat Xue Haowen, Vaishali beat Lin Xinyu).