Geniuses rise when the chips are down! Two stars shined brightly for team India in round 3. The attacking genius of Sethuraman and the extreme tenacity of Padmini Rout. In the mens section Indian drew with Italy with a score of 2-2. On the top board, Parimarjan Negi very surprisingly played the Berlin wall with black against Caruana. I call it surprising because Caruana has scalped many a victims from the white side of the variation. Most notable being the world champion Magnus Carlsen! The game was really like driving on Mumbai-Pune expressway for Caruana! So smooth and with such amazing ease he dislodged the Indian star. We were already 1-0 down. Sasikiran tried his level best against Vocaturo but I guess he never really had a chance and hence draw is a logical result. But the game that was really interesting was Brunello vs Adhiban. The Slav opening became extremely sharp as Adhiban sacrificed pawns without much thought! Brunello gave a rook for Adhibans knight and had almost a winning position with 3 extra pawns. But Adhiban fought on! And believe it or not he was totally winning after the Italian made one mistake after another. At this point I am sure Indians must have been jumping with joy. But it was not to be Adhiban cracked and played poorly in the endgame which should have been a matter of technique for him. The result was a draw. Sethuraman shined brightly in this round. From the white side of the Sicilian he first set up the Maroczy bind with his pawns on e4 and c4. Then he gained space with f4, then with b4! It was as if he wanted the entire board to be in his control. Finally his idea with Rg1 and g4 was just too much as David Alberto got too much counterplay by sacrificing a piece. The bishop on b7 was staring menacingly at Sethus king on h1 but the position was so wild that it was humanly impossible to play accurately. Alberto cracked and India equalised!! A nerve wracking round and a draw with Italy should be a good result. You could say Adhiban could have won and we would have 2.5-1.5 but after the opening he was totally lost so it could well have been the other way round!! One picture simply sums up the India-Kazakhstan match in the women section for me. You have see this picture before reading ahead: https://facebook/photo.php?fbid=10204288914084932&set=a.2124437312438.125625.1291026453&type=1&theater Padmini who is also known as the queen of Orissa, did something unbelievable. This is her first olympiad and after the top two boards drew and Eesha Karavade lost India were trailing 2-1. Add to the fact that Padmini was in an extremely difficult position and things looked really grim for the Indian ladies team. But like a battle hardened player, Padmini fought valiantly and not only did she manange to neutralise opponents advantage but even tricked her and won the game. All the hopes of the nation were on her little shoulders and she delivered. Kudos to Padmini!! :) Today the Indian women face Serbia. This is how the pairing looks: GM Harika, Dronavalli 2521 - WGM Vojinovic, Jovana 2312 IM Sachdev, Tanya 2418 - WGM Stojanovic, Andjelija 2297 WGM Gomes, Mary Ann 2352 - WIM Rakic, Marija 2323 WGM Padmini, Rout 2318 - Velikic, Adela 2145 With Padmini on board 4 facing not so strong opponent I think winning today shouldnt be so difficult for the Indian team. However the task for Indian Mens team is much more difficult. In the 4th round they face the extremely strong and well balanced team of Cuba. GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2760 - GM Sethuraman, S.P. 2590 GM Bruzon Batista, Lazaro 2664 - GM Sasikiran, Krishnan 2669 GM Quesada Perez, Yuniesky 2649 - GM Adhiban, B. 2619 GM Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynaldo 2603 - GM Lalith, Babu M.R. 2565 With each and every Cuban player above 2600 they look like a really strong side. Indians have dropped Negi on the top board. It looks like a logical decision. Maybe after loss against Caruana he can get the much needed time to come back into good mental set up. Dominguez with white is extremely strong and hence even a half point from Sethu would be a bonus. At the same time huge responsibility falls on Sasikirans shoulders to score with white against Bruzon Batista. If Sasi can do that only then Indians have a realistic chance of beating Cuba. Adhiban with another black against Quesada will be well matched struggle while I can never really guess what Lalith can come up with. He is really an unpredictable guy. On his day he can really beat the best. We, Indians can only hope that today is his day!! The round begins in almost an hour from now. Do not miss the action live at 17.30 hrs IST. Heres the link: https://chess24/en/olympiad2014/live On a parting note I must mention the not to be missed video interview of Nigel Short in which he calls the FIDE president Kirsan Illyumzhinov a criminal Mafia! Thats bravery!! https://youtube/watch?v=u-YmQbw7pSI
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 11:41:48 +0000
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