India registered a lucky victory over Turkey in a closely-fought encounter to hold on to their joint third spot at the end of the seventh round of the World Team Chess Championship now in progress in Bursa, Turkey on Tuesday.
Grandmaster G N Gopal scored a rabbit-out-of-hat victory against Abdel Razek Khaled just when a draw looked inevitable to guide India to an improbable 2.5-1.5 win after the other three games had ended in a draw.
Gopal became the hero of the day from Indian perspective, especially because the game was only a few of moves away from being declared drawn when the Turkish International Master landed himself in a lost position.
It was a Rook and Bishop v/s Rook endgame wherein 47 moves were already played by both players and as per rules after 50 moves such a game is declared drawn. But Gopal kept trying and caught his bit-complacent opponent off-guard in one of the known traps.
The United States continued with their fine run and emerged as the sole leader on 12 points following a 2.5-1.5 victory over Greece. For the US, yet again, Hikaru Nakamura scored an important victory on the top board against Vasilios Kotronias.
However, it turned out to be a bad day for the Israeli team as they lost to bottom placed Turkey by a 1.5-2.5 margin.
In other games of the day, Russia played out a 2-2 draw with Armenia while Azerbaijan drubbed Brazil 3.5-0.5.
United States at the top with 12 points, followed by Russia on 11. Azerbaijan and India share the third spot on nine points with two more rounds to go.
Armenia is sole fifth on eight points, a full point adrift of Israel who have a point more than Greece. Turkey and Egypt share the eighth spot on three points each and Brazil is now occupies the last spot with just two points.
True to his fighting style, Sasikiran fought hard to beat Adly as he knew that a victory with a handsome margin would have increased India's chances in the event.
Adly, the 2007 World Junior champion, however had other plans as he made slow but steady progress with his white pieces. In the late middle game, Sasikiran sacrificed a rook for knight to get some compensation and his opponent returned it when the danger became imminent.
The Indian's hope vanished in the ensuing endgame that was drawn after 80 moves. In the next encounter, Harikrishna's white pieces did not yield the desired result for him as Amin Baseem neutralized his initiative fairly quickly.
Harikrishna's form here has been a cause for concern for the think tank and against Baseem, a player rated more than 150 points below him, the Indian was held to an easy draw.
On the fourth board, National Champion B Adhiban was also held to a draw by Sarwat Walaa after 48 moves.
