World Team Chess: Indian men lose to US

The Indian men went down to the United States of America 1-3 on Thursday and are now on the verge of going out of medal contention in the World Team Chess championship in Ningbo, China.

After raising visions of a better second half by beating Israel in the previous round, the Indians faltered again with black pieces, which proved crucial.

On the second board, Krishnan Sasikiran went down to Alexander Onischuk while Parimarjan Negi found his nemesis in Robert Hess on the fourth board.

The Americans drew the other two games, Gata Kamsky holding his fort easily with black pieces against P Harikrishna, and Yuri Shulman playing out a draw with Surya Shekhar Ganguly to seal victory.

Meanwhile, the Armenians maintained their winning run at the expense of hosts China and remained at the top of the table on eight points out of a possible ten.

The Armenians won the match by a minimal 2.5-1.5 margin.

Russia and Hungary remained in pursuit of the leader with fine victories against Egypt and Israel respectively.

While the Russians won 3-1, Hungary proved even more ruthless, winning 3.5-0.5.

Ukraine went clear fourth on six points with a spirited effort against Azerbaijan.

While the first three boards ended in draws, Gabriel Sargissian provided the crucial blow for Ukraine defeating Alexander Moiseenko.

The fifth place is now shared by Azerbaijan, China and USA, who all have five points, while Israel is now eighth with four points.

Past the half way stage, and with only four games to go, the Indians need a makeover to come out of their ninth place on three points.

Egypt remain at the bottom of the table, yet to open their account.