Chess: Indians score easy wins at Asian Games

Indian men's and women's teams produced a fine effort to register easy wins over their rivals in the third round of the chess competition at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday.

The top-seeded men's team comprising GMs D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna beat Kazakhstan 3-1.

The women's side, which is seeded second here, crushed Indonesia 3.5-0.5 for a third straight win.

The India No.1 D Gukesh scored his first win of the event, beating GM Rinat Jumabayev.

On the second board, Praggnanandhaa won with the black pieces against GM Alisher Suleimenov.

Harikrishna, playing his first match, secured a solid draw against IM Nogerbek Kazybek while Erigaisi drew IM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov.

The Indian women were all over the fourth-seeded Indonesia, with Koneru Humpy, D Harika and Vantika Agarwal posting wins while R Vaishali drew her game.

After Humpy and Vantika's scored wins over Medina Warda Aulia and Ummi Fisabiullah respectively, Harika defeated WGM Dewi Ardhiani Anastasia Citra to seal the match.

Vaishali settled for a draw against WIM Chelsie Monica Ignesias Sihite as India swept to victory.

Meanwhile in a surprise result in the men's section, Iran stunned second-seeded China 2.5-1.5 while a strong Uzbekistan team eased past Vietnam 3-1.

In the women's event, top-seeded China thrashed Thailand 4-0 for a second victory after having been held by Uzbekistan in round one.