Indian eves came up with yet another emphatic performance to beat Russia 2-1 in the 10th round of the women's section of the 36th Chess Olympiad in Mallorca.
Koneru Humpy and S Vijayalakshmi proved superior than their higher rated rivals - Alexandra Kosteniuk and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya - and even Nisha Mohota's loss against Nadezhda Kosintseva on the third board could not save the Russians as the Indians remained in hunt for their first-ever medal in the 14 round championship.
Meanwhile, the Chinese juggernaut was finally halted by the US who scored a 2-1 victory. The result was made possible by Irina Krush on the second board as she romped home against World Cup Champion Xu Yuhua. The other two games ended in draws.
The victory gave the US a rare triumph over the leaders who are otherwise running away with the title. As things stand now, China leads with 24.5 in their kitty and are now followed by Hungary on 20. Half a point adrift of Hungarians are the Indian eves along with the US and Georgia.
Humpy, who was instrumental in India's upset win over Ukraine, gave a great start to her team on the top board as she overpowered Kostneuik in the game of the day.
Both were locked in an intense battle as Humpy varied from her usual Modern defence and went for the Sicilian Paulsen. The Indian sacrificed a pawn to parry threats on the King side in the middle game and her active pieces ensured that their was sufficient counter play.
In wild complications that ensued Humpy won a piece with a well disguised tactical stroke and crowned her achievement with well defined technical play. Kosteniuk called it a day on her 43rd turn.
"It is really good," Humpy said about the Indian victory. Speaking about her game she said that Kosteniuk just fell for her preparation. "I had been waiting for an opportunity to use this variation against stronger opposition, its nice that it came good too," Humpy said.
Vijayalakshmi was a class act in her one sided victory over World Women's championship finalist Kovalevskaya.
Kovalevskaya opted for the King's Indian defence as black and it was the fianchetto variation that gave Vijayalakshmi a tangible advantage. Nurturing it with deft manoeuvres Vijayalakshmi won a pawn and went on to display immaculate winning technique. It was coincident that Vijayalakshmi's victory also came in 43 moves.
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In the middle game Nisha lost a pawn and as white's forces came rolling on her, the loss of a second pawn was also inevitable. Thereafter it was child's play for Kosintseva who clinched the issue in 54 moves.
Former Champions Georgia finally got the momentum ticking in their favour and defeated Sweden 3-0. In other important matches of the 10th round, Armenia got the better of Poland and won 2-1 while Hungary outplayed Latvia 2.5-0.5.
Results (Women):
Indian results: Alexandra Kosteniuk lost to Koneru Humpy; S Vijayalakshmi beat Ekaterina Kovalevskaya; Nadezhda Kosintseva beat Nisha Mohota.
Others: China (24.5) lost to United States (19.5) 1-2; Russia (18.5) lost to India (19.5) 1-2; Hungary (20) beat Latvia (17.5) 2.5-0.5; Georgia (19.5) beat Sweden (17) 3-0; Poland (17.5) lost to Armenia (18.5) 1-2; Ukraine (18) drew with Lithuania (18) 1.5-1.5; England (18) beat Serbia Montenegro (17) 2-13; France (18.5) beat Moldova (16.5) 2.5-0.5; Cuba (16.5) lost to Slovakia (18.5) 0.5-2.5; Bulgaria (18) beat Romania (16.5) 2-1; Germany (17) drew with Israel (17) 1.5-1.5; Iran (16.5) lost to Netherlands (17.5.) 1-2; Slovenia (17.5) beat Ecuador (15.5) 2.5-0.5; Mongolia (17.5) beat Kazakhstan (15.5) 2.5-0.5; Belarus (15.5) lost to Czech Republic (17.5) 0.5-2.5; Spain B (14.5) lost to Azerbaijan (17.5) 0-3; Switzerland (15.5) drew with Colombia (16) 1.5-1.5.
