Asian Nations Cup 2018: Indian men draw with China, Vietnam beat our women's team
The Asian Nations Cup 2018 is just not going India's way. In the open section the men's team drew their match against China. Adhiban had excellent chances of winning the game, while Abhijeet Gupta was in a bad position within a few moves out of the opening. Both the games ended in a draw and India had to settle for 2-2 against China. In the women's section, after two wins against relatively weak opposition, we faced Vietnam. And although Harika scored a full point, the other two girls Akanksha Hagawane and R.Vaishali lost their games. India is now in sixth position in the open and fifth in the women's section. Iran Green leads with five victories in the open section while China is unstoppable in the women's section.
A tense match with China:
Although there were four draws in the match, it was not at all boring. On board one Adhiban had a better position and excellent chances of winning, which he missed against Lu Shanglei. On board four Abhijeet Gupta was losing his game against Bai Jinshi, but he managed to hold on.
Adhiban vs Lu Shanglei
Lu Shanglei has just moved his queen c2. How should White win this position?
Adhiban checked with the move Qe8. But it was a subtle mistake. The right choice would have been to give Qd8+ Kh7 Nf8+ Kg8 Ne6 Kh7 and now Qc7! when the queens have to be exchanged because of the mate threat on g7.
Abhijeet Gupta played quite poorly in the opening and soon landed in a lost position against Bai Jinshi. But the GM from Rajasthan fought with all his might and drew the game! This ensured India drawing the match with China.
As of now things look pretty bleak for the Indian team. They are relegated to the sixth spot. Iran having played both India and China and having beaten both of them are the clear favourites. We now face Vietnam in the sixth round which is another difficult test.
Rank after round 5
| Rk. | SNo | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | |
| 1 | 3 | Iran Green | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 14,5 | |
| 2 | 2 | China | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11,0 | |
| 3 | 6 | Iran Red | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 14,0 | |
| 4 | 4 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 13,0 | |
| 5 | 5 | Vietnam | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12,0 | |
| 6 | 1 | India | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11,5 | |
| 7 | 7 | Uzbekistan | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10,0 | |
| 8 | 11 | Syria | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8,0 | |
| 9 | 8 | Iran White | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10,5 | |
| 10 | 10 | Iraq | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7,0 | |
| 11 | 9 | Bangladesh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7,5 | |
| 14 | Afghanistan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7,5 | ||
| 13 | 12 | Lebanon | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7,0 | |
| 14 | 13 | Oman | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4,5 |
Vietnam too strong for Indian women:
Harika played a long game to beat Vietnamese Hoang Thi Bao Tram:
Vaishali couldn't hold a draw against Pham Le Thao Nguyen:
Akanksha Hagawane lost from the black side of a Fianchetto Grunfeld:
Rank after round 5
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | China | * | 2½ | 3 | 2½ | 3 | 3½ | 10 | 14,5 | 0 | |||
| 2 | Vietnam | 1½ | * | 2 | 2½ | 2½ | 3 | 7 | 11,5 | 0 | |||
| 3 | Iran Green | 1 | 2 | * | 2 | 3½ | 3 | 6 | 11,5 | 0 | |||
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 1½ | 1½ | 2 | * | 3½ | 4 | 5 | 12,5 | 0 | |||
| India | 1 | 1½ | * | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 12,5 | 0 | ||||
| 6 | Uzbekistan | 1 | ½ | 2 | * | 2½ | 4 | 5 | 10,0 | 0 | |||
| 7 | Iran Red | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1½ | * | 4 | 2 | 6,5 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Syria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 1,0 | 0 |
The chances of Indian team winning a medal are also waning.