The Indian men's and women's teams scored identical 2.5-1.5 victories over Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy respectively, in the sixth round of the 32nd chess Olympiad now underway in Dresden, Germany.
The Indian men moved to joint-third place with 10 points out of a possible 12 in the Open section and are now behind Russia and Armenia, who share the lead on 11 points each.
The women took their tally to nine points and share sixth place.
China (12 points) continue to lead the women's section and opened up a two-point lead over nearest rivals United States after beating Hungary 2.5-1.5 in the sixth round.
Playing the top board, Krishnan Sasikiran defeated Predrag Nikolic of Bosnia-Herzegovina to open India's account. That was the lone victory for the men, the remaining three games ending in draws.
P Harikrishna signed peace with Borki Predojevic while Ibro Saric and Dalibor Stojanovic held higher-ranked Indians Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Sandipan Chanda.
Among the women, Tania Sachdev succumbed to her first defeat in the tournament when she went down to Olga Zimina of Italy.
World junior girls' champion D Harika's hunt for an elusive victory on the top board continued after she was held by Elena Sedina. With India trailing, it needed the in-form Swati Ghate and Mary Ann Gomes to ensure victory.
Swati accounted for Elionora Ambrosi while Mary Ann defeated Marina Brunello.
At the top, Vladimir Kramnik and Dmitry Jakovenko showed the way as the Russian men cruised past England with an emphatic 3-1 victory.
Kramnik accounted for former World championship candidate Nigel Short on the top board while on the fourth board, Jakovenko proved too good for Stuart Conquest.
Armenia defeated Azerbaijan with Vladimir Akopian coming good on the second board against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The remaining three games ended in draws.
Sasikiran displayed top form with his black pieces, who employed a Neo-Grunfeld defence and Nikolic was eventually out-manoeuvred.
Tania went down after some over-ambitious play with white pieces against Olga. It was a semi-Slav defence by the Italian that netted her a full point after 43 moves.
Swati scored a fine victory in the Sicilian defence with black pieces to take her personal score to 4.5 points out of 6 while Mary Ann proved too good in her 27-move triumph.
Important Round 6 results (match point in paranthesis):
Men: Russia (11) bt England (9) 3-1; Ukraine (10) drew with Germany '1' (10) 2-2; Azerbaijan (9) lost to Armenia (11) 1.5-2.5; France (10) bt Poland (8) 3-1; Bosnia & Herzegovina (8) lost to India (10) 1.5-2.5 (P Nikolic lost to Krishnan Sasikiran, P Harikrishna drew with Borki Predojevic, Ibro Saric drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Dalibor Stojanovic drew with Sandipan Chanda); Sweden (8) lost to Israel (10) 1.5-2.5; Georgia (8) lost to China (10) 1.5-2.5; Romania (10) bt Bulgaria (8) 2.5-1.5; Colombia (7) lost to Hungary (9) 1.5-2.5; Netherlands (9) bt Moldova (7) 3-1.
Women: Hungary (9) lost to China (12) 1.5-2.5; Austria (8) lost to Russia (10) 1-3; Romania (8) lost to United States of America (10) 0-4; Georgia (8) lost to Poland (10) 1.5-2.5; Uzbekistan (8) lost to Netherlands (10) 1-3; Armenia (8) lost to Ukraine (10) 0.5-3.5; England (8) lost to Bulgaria (9) 1-3; Italy (7) lost to India (9) 1.5-2.5 (Elena Sedina drew with D Harika, Tania Sachdev lost to Olga Zimina, Elionora Ambrosi lost to Swati Ghate, Mary Ann Gomes bt Marina Brunello); Mongolia (9) bt Israel (7) 3-1; Slovenia (8) drew with Azerbaijan (8) 2-2.
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