Surya

Turin: National champion Surya Sekhar Ganguly and P. Harikrishna scored brilliant victories to help India post a resounding 3-1 victory over Germany in the sixth round of the 37th Chess Olympiad.

After a rather subdued start, the Indian men are back into reckoning in the biggest chess event which saw top seed Russians suffering a shocking 1.5-2.5 defeat at the hands of Holland in the sixth round.

Russian national champion Sergey Rublevsky failed to hold his ground against Dutchman Friso Nijboer.

Third seed Armenia gained lost ground as they scored a much needed 2.5-1.5 victory over Uzbekistan by notching a win on the second board while drawing the rest of the games.

With 16.5 points, Indian men are on joint fifth position while Armenia are the sole leaders with 18 points in their kitty after six rounds.

For India, world number two Viswanathan Anand and second-ranked Indian player Krishnan Sasikiran achieved draws on the top two boards while Harikrishna and Ganguly scored victories over Christopher Lutz and Alexander Grafm, respectively, on the third and fourth board to script a grand victory.

Anand, on the top board, could not break the ice against a solid Arkadij Naiditsch while Sasikiran’s attempt to complicate against Artur Jussopow also did not materialise.

In the women’s section being played simultaneously, India yet again came out with flying colours scoring a 2-1 victory over Slovenia in Round VI.

Koneru Humpy drew her game playing on the top board while D. Harika achieved the same result on the second.

Much was expected from national women champion Swati Ghate and she came up with yet another splendid effort to score a victory.

The Indian eves are on third spot with 13 points while Russia continue to lead the table after six rounds. (PTI)