FIDE World Women's Team Chess Championship: India, Georgia share honours in first match of SF

Sitges: Mary Ann Gomes continued her good form, beating Salome Melia on the fourth board to help India draw the first match of the semifinals against Georgia in the FIDE World Women’s Team Chess Championship on Friday. Like in the quarterfinals, Gomes’ victory enabled India share honours after Lela Javakshivili had beaten Bhakti Kulkarni to give Georgia the advantage. The second match of the semifinals will be played later on Friday. India’s No 1 player D Harika (Elo 2511), playing on the top board, drew with Nina Dzagnidze (Elo 2525) in a short 14-move game. R Vaishali, playing on the second board, shared the point with Nino Batsiahvili in 61 moves. It was Gomes, who shone again, riding high after winning both her matches in the quarterfinal against Kazakhstan. She beat Melia in a 55-move encounter as India drew the first match 2-2. Earlier in the quarterfinals, India had defeated Kazakhstan 1.5-0.5 late on Thursday with Gomes playing a crucial role. In the second match, India’s No.1 player Harika scored win against Zhansaya Abdumalik on the top board while Gomes was impressive in beating Gulmira Dauletova. Meanwhile in the second semifinal, the top-seeded Russian team took a big step towards sealing a final berth, by winning the first match 2.5-1.5 against Ukraine.