Tania Sachdev shines as Indian women's team win at 44th Chess Olympiad

After Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and R Vaishali ended with a draw in their respective encounters, Sachdev rose brilliantly to the occasion. She thrashed Zsoka Gaal to earn a decisive point as well as the match for the team.

Chennai: Tania Sachdev battled long and hard to rake in a precious point as India A registered a sensational 2.5-1.5 win against Hungary in the fourth-round match of women section at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai on Monday.

After Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and R Vaishali ended with a draw in their respective encounters, Sachdev rose brilliantly to the occasion. She thrashed Zsoka Gaal to earn a decisive point as well as the match for the team.

"It was a tough position and I was aware that our two boards had ended in a draw. We had a strong opponent and now it is the time we have to play stronger teams. So, I think we need to be ready for the competition. We are looking forward to the next game," Sachdev said after the match.

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"The teams are well balanced and it is very important to take one round at a time. All the games today were well fought," said Abhijit Kunte, coach of India women's A team. The 11th-seeded Indian women's B team also edged past Estonia with a similar 2.5-1.5 score. Vantika Agrawal, extending her winning run, clinched the winning point for the team while the other three games ended in draws.

Meanwhile, in a major upset on Day 4, former World Championship Challenger Fabiano Caruana of USA was beaten by Nodirbek Abdusattaarov of Uzbekistan. With the help of the 17-year-old prodigy Abdusattaarov's efforts, Uzbekistan held the top-seeded star-studded USA to a 2-2 draw.

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In the other open-section fourth-round matches, India B emerged victorious by 3-1 against Italy. Gukesh and Nihal Sarin scored victories while R Praggnanandhaa and Raunak Sadhwani conceded draws. Gukesh played a fantastic game against Daniele Vocaturo, who had held Magnus Carlsen to a draw on Sunday. In a Queen's Gambit Declined game, Gukesh went on a pawn-grabbing spree with tactical strokes and pocketed the point after 34 moves when his Queen, rook and bishop surrounded his opponent's king.

The second-seeded India A, on the other hand, held to a 2-2 draw by France with all the four board splitting points while India C lost to Spain by a 1.5-2.5 score.

ANI