Indian men beat Poland 2.5-1.5 but their medal hopes remain dim after the 13th and penultimate round of the 36th Chess Olympiad at Gran Casino in Mallorca.
World Rapid Champion Viswanathan Anand gave the team an early lead with a thumping victory over Bartlomiej Macieja while Krishnan Sasikiran dazzled in his brilliant triumph over Michal Krasenkow.
But on the third board, P Harikrishna succumbed to his second straight loss bowing to Robert Kempinski while Surya Shekhar Ganguly blew away a winning endgame before signing peace with Miton Kamil.
Meanwhile, Ukraine acted in quite business like fashion and took a quick 2-2 draw with Georgia on the top board. The Ukrainians took their tally to 36.5, which looks near unassailable now as they have a three points cushion over Russia going in to the final round.
With Russians so far adrift of Ukraine and Armenians on their toes on 33 points, Israel is next in line on 32.5 while India is joint fifth along with Cuba on 31.5.
Though some permutations and combinations might suggest that there are still some medal chances for Indians, practically it might just be too difficult as not only they must score landslide victory in the last round, but also the teams ahead of them should do badly.
That apart, Anand was a class act in crushing Macieja with black pieces. Significantly, this was also the first win with the slight unfavourable colour by the Indian in this Olympiad.
Playing the white side of a Torre attack Macieja could boast off a slightly better position in to the middle game but gradually his initiative was neutralised by Anand.
Almost spectacularly, the Indian ace punted a brilliant knight sacrifice just while Macieja thought he was pressing for an advantage and the Polish's position fell apart soon.
Adding to the woes of Macieja was the clock as he also fell under time pressure to make matters worse for himself.
Just simple and effective manoeuvres ensured Anand a dangerous attack against a centralised white king and the dominance of his pieces was further attested as Macieja was forced to part with his queen. The rest was child's play with central passed pawns for Anand and he wrapped the issue in 39 moves.
Krishnan Sasikiran was brilliance personified in his crushing victory over highly regarded Michal Krasenkow. Having won just one game so far apart from 10 draws, Sasikiran wanted desperately to contribute in a better way and as the opportunity arose, he delivered what will also go down as one of the best games played by an Indian.
It was a Dutch defence by transposition wherein Krasenkow got the dynamic balance he was looking for. In the middle game Sasikiran showcased his growing tactical maturity and surprised the Polish with a Queen sacrifice for just two minor pieces. However, to go with them, Sasikiran made sure he had a set of passed pawns in the middle of the board.
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Ganguly missed out on the fourth board after he nearly outplayed Miton Kamil who played the black side of a Pirc defence game. The national champion looked in his element in the middle game as he exerted pressure on the king side.
Winning a pawn after the dust settled Ganguly looked in fine fettle to cruise to a fine victory when suddenly disaster struck him and he allowed simplifications leading to a piece up position that was a theoretical draw. The game lasted 63 moves.
Harikrishna was outdone from the Slav defence again. Playing with a lot of zeal, Kempinsky was determined not to let the cup slip from his lip once he managed a stronghold from a level middle game and knocked down two rooks for two knights before completing the victory.
Russia defeated Cuba with a minimal margin in other important matches of the day while Israel drew with United States to move ahead.
Important results round 13:
Ukraine (36.5) drew with Georgia (31) 2-2; Cuba (31.5) lost to Russia (33.5); France (30.5) drew with Armenia (33) 2-2; United States (31.5) drew with Israel (32.5) 2-2; Poland (30) lost to India (31.5) 1.5-2.5; Greece (30) lost to Bulgaria (31) 1.5-2.5; Switzerland (30) drew with Azerbaijan (30) 2 -2; China (30.5) beat Hungary (29.5) 2.5-1.5; Germany (30) drew with Czech Republic (30) 2-2; Bosnia Herzegovina (29.5) drew with Argentina (29.5) 2-2; Uzbekistan (30) beat Spain A (29) 2.5-1.5; Slovakia (29) drew with Romania (29.5) 2-2; Serbia Montenegro (28.5) lost to Philippines (29.5) 1.5-2.5; Netherlands (30) beat Sweden (28) 3-1; Mexico (28) lost to Moldova (29) 1.5-2.5; Finland (28) lost to Latvia (29) 1.5-2.5; England (26.5) drew with Australia (26.5); Kazakhstan (29) beat Vietnam (28) 2.5-1.5; Canada (27.5) lost to Belarus (29.5) 1-3.