Indian men finish 30th, women 12th

India had a disappointing finish at the 37th Chess Olympiad here with the women's team bagging the 12th spot and the men managing to get the 30th place after the concluding round of the meet.

Indian men yet again failed to make the most of the situation and managed a minimal 2.5-1.5 victory over Italy 'B' in the 13th and final round.

Armenia attested their supremacy in the event with a quick draw on all four boards against Hungary and won the gold medal with a huge score of 36 points out of a possible 52.

The silver medal went to China who came with yet another fine performance in the final round game to beat Holland by a 2.5-1.5 margin. The Chinese men finished with 34 points.

In an amazing turn of events, pre-Olympiad favourite and top seed Russia were thrown out of medal contention after they lost their final round game against Israel by a 1-3 margin.

It paved the way for United States men that beat Norway 3.5-0.5 to join Israel in the third spot on 33 points and after the tie-break was resolved US got the bronze.

Behind Israel, Hungary finished fifth overall on 32.5 points while Russia ended sixth.

Indian men who had been given the second billing here behind Russia finished 30th on 29.5 points after the final list was announced.

In women's section, Ukraine won the gold after taking a draw with Armenian eves. Ukraine ended with 29.5 points out of a possible 39 and won the gold with a 1.5 point lead over Russia, who defeated Indian eves in the final round 2-1.

Indian eves, seeded ninth, had a better finish than their male counterparts and tallied 23 points to finish 12th.

The Chinese women, the defending champions, had to be content with the bronze this time. In the final round, China drew with Belarus and ended on 27.5 points overall.

For Indian men, the final round also did not bring any good news as national champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly was outdone on the third board by unknown Sabino Brunello of the Italy 'B' team.

In fact, the Indian opposition did not have a single International Master against four Indian Grandmasters and it was again a tragedy of errors that failed to propel the team to a better finish.

Viswanathan Anand was expectedly rested and Krishnan Sasikiran won his game against Niccolo Ronchetti after former World Junior Champion P Harikrishna gave the team an early lead defeating Daniele Vocaturo.

However, Ganguly's loss combined with a draw by Sandipan Chanda against Denis Rombaldoni on the fourth board could yield only a minimal victory.

The Indian women looked better placed to hold Russia with Grandmaster Koneru Humpy settling for an early draw with Russian top player Alexandra Kosteniuk. On the second board, Dronavalli Harika also did well to get a half point against Natalia Kosintseva but on the third Swati Ghate fumbled from a promising position against Nadezhda Kosintseva -- giving the Russians a 2-1 victory.

Important results final round: Armenia (36) drew Hungary (32.5) 2-2; China (34) bt Netherlands(31) 2.5-1.5; Russia (32) lost to Israel (33) 1-3; Bulgaria (32) bt France (32) 2.5-1.5; USA (33) bt Norway (29.5) 3.5-0.5; Ukraine (32) bt Poland (30) 3-1; Spain (32) bt Denmark (30) 3-1; Cuba (30.5) drew Georgia (31) 2-2; Czech Republic (31) bt Greece (30) 2.5-1.5; Uzbekistan (31) bt Azerbaijan (30) 2.5-1.5; Macedonia (29.5) lost to Germany (30) 2.5-1.5;  Moldova (30.5) bt Canada (29.5) 2.5-1.5; Romania (30) drew Latvia (30) 2-2; SerbiaMontenegro (28) lost to England (30.5) 1.5-2.5; Slovenia (30) bt Lithuania (29) 2.5-1.5; Sweden (30.5) bt Estonia (28.5)3-1; Italy B (28.5) lost to India (29.5) 1.5-2.5; BosniaHerzegovina (29) drew Belarus (29) 2-2; Iran (28) lost to Switzerland (30) 1-3; Brazil (29.5) bt Philippines (28.5) 2.5-1.5.

Indian Board results: Niccolo Ronchetti lost to Krishnan Sasikiran; P Harikrishna bt Daniele Vocaturo; Sabino Brunello bt SS Ganguly; Sandipan Chanda drew with Denis Rombaldoni

Women: Ukraine (29.5) drew Armenia (24) 1.5-1.5; India (23) lost to Russia (28) 1-2; China (26.5) drew Belarus (23.5) 1.5-1.5; Germany (23.5) drew USA (24.5) 1.5-1.5; Poland (22.5) lost to Georgia (24.5) 0.5-2.5; Hungary (24.5) bt Greece(22.5) 2.5-0.5; Czech Rep (24) bt France (22.5) 2.5-0.5; Philippines (22) lost to Slovenia (24) 0.5-2.5; Cuba (23) drew Vietnam (23) 1.5-1.5; Mongolia (21) lost to Netherlands (24.5) 0-3; Bulgaria (23) bt Serbia-Montenegro (22) 2-1; Romania (23) bt Iran (22) 2-1; Turkey (22) drew Sweden (21.5) 1.5-1.5; Moldova (21) lost to Lithuania (22) 1-2; Croatia (21.5) drew Spain (21.5) 1.5-1.5; Latvia (23) bt Ecuador (20) 3-0; Switzerland (21) drew Estonia (21) 1.5-1.5; Turkmenistan (21) bt Azerbaijan (20) 2-1; Colombia (20)lost to Canada (21) 1-2.

Women Board results: K Humpy drew A Kosteniuk;T Kosintseva drew D Harika; S Ghate lost to N K Nadezhda.