Team India's scintillating comeback!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 15/09/2016

Team India began the women's section of Baku 2016 as the fifth seeds. Things looked bright until the serious jolt in the seventh round when we lost to Azerbaijan. Harika was on a drawing spree until then, and Tania Sachdev, who had begun with 4.0/4, suffered her third straight loss! Padmini Rout was playing erratically. Only Soumya looked consistent on the fourth board. Things looked bad until Harika started punching wins. And then, it was the Tania Sachdev Show! Check out our heavily illustrated report with tonnes of pictures and enjoy!

Team India's scintillating comeback!

Team India began the women's section of Baku 2016 as the fifth seeds. We had won four games and drawn two. A fairly steady result, until disaster struck in the seventh round -- India lost 1.5-2.5 to the lower seeded Azerbaijani team. It was a gloomy day in all because even the men's team had lost that round to the Americans. But the women's team had problems aplenty to solve.

Harika had suffered a brutal loss in a won position in the second round match. The shock loss affected her psychologically. She had been on a drawing spree since then. It didn't inspire too much confidence. [Photo: G.Sudhakaran]

Tania Sachdev, who had begun with a sterling 4.0/4, had lost three consecutive games from then on. Indeed, it was brutal. But that is life in sport. And this was not the end of story. She fell sick towards the end of the tournament! [Photo: D.Llada]

To aggravate matters further, Padmini Rout was playing lackluster chess. Until the seventh round, she had 3.5/6, and she scored only one point more in the next four rounds! [Photo: G. Sudhakaran]

Standings after Round 07:

10	52	Turkmenistan	TKM	7	5	1	1	11	113,0	19,5	47,00
11	11	Romania	ROU	7	4	2	1	10	156,5	18,5	66,00
12	10	Germany	GER	7	4	2	1	10	146,5	18,0	59,00
13	5	India	IND	7	4	2	1	10	141,0	18,5	60,0

The fifth seeded Indians were stuck at the 13th place! We needed a solution to this problem!

IM Vishal Sareen found a nice way out.

IM Vishal Sareen, the coach of the women's team, had some serious damage control to do. He finally, wisely, decided to give Tania a rest day and enlisted the services of the youngest member of the team -- Bodda Pratyusha -- in the eighth round. She did her job by drawing the game.

The jolt in the seventh round woke up India's top board Dronavalli Harika from a deep slumber. [Photo: D.Llada]

Harika won her seventh round game, leading India to a 2.5-1.5 victory over Uzbekistan, as all other games were drawn. Then, in the ninth round game against the Dutchwomen (?!), she fired again, this time in a more stylish manner.

White has more than one way to win, but Harika chose the most stylish one.

[Event "42nd World Chess Olympiad Women"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.11"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Peng, Zhaoqin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B47"]
[WhiteElo "2542"]
[BlackElo "2368"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8.
Be3 Bb4 9. Nxc6 Bxc3 10. bxc3 bxc6 11. f4 Nxe4 12. Bf3 Nf6 13. Bc5 d5 14. Qd4
Rb8 15. Rae1 Rb5 16. c4 Rxc5 17. Qxc5 Nd7 18. Qa3 Qxf4 19. Rxe6+ fxe6 20. Bh5+
g6 21. Rxf4 gxh5 22. cxd5 exd5 23. Rf3 c5 24. Qe3+ Kd8 25. Qg5+ Kc7 26. Rf7 Re8
27. Qxd5 Re2 28. Qxc5+ Kd8 29. Qa5+ Ke8 30. Qxh5 1-0

Harika finished with two draws in the final two rounds to finish at 6.0/10. A fine comeback, but this did no influence Padmini Rout's situation, as she continued to struggle for points.

The official photographer of the event David Llada commented: If you ask me, the most beautiful team in average at the Olympiad is India. Those eyes are incomparable...

In any case, Padmini was struggling with 4.5/10 in the event. In numerous cases, she had good positions, with an advantage even, but it just wasn't her tournament. She lost the final round game on the second board versus the US, and India was in deep trouble.

Although Soumya Swaminathan had a terrific tournament scoring 8.0/11, even she had a lapse in the tenth round, when we could have easily lost to Ukraine. [Photo: M. Emelianova]

Harika had punched wins in the eighth and the ninth rounds, but she could only draw in the tenth and the eleventh. The in-form Soumya too suffered a jolt in the tenth round. An erratic Padmini meant that we were about to lose in the final round as well! Tania Sachdev came to India's rescue!

IM Tania Sachdev's return to form was crucial [Photo: D.Llada]

The key differentiator was Team India's efforts on the third and the fourth boards. Tania Sachdev, after the rest on the eighth round, made amends for her mid-olympiad fiasco. She punched three back to back victories, all crucial, to take Team India forward.

As we found out later, Tania was actually sick towards the end of the tournament! Despite her ill health, she played at her best and fought for Team India.

It is rare to get positions with four queens on the board, but Tania is winning this one with white. White to play.

But, it is easy to go wrong! If you mistakenly push the f-pawn forward with 29.f6, you will lose after ...b2. Tania played 29.Qe5, which wins, but Black could have posed one last question to her with 29...Qc1.

There is only one move that wins now! White to play.

[Event "42nd World Chess Olympiad Women"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.11"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Black "Kazarian, Anna-Maja"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2402"]
[BlackElo "2231"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/kb5p/2p1Q3/p1P2P2/P1P5/1p4P1/5P1P/3q1BK1 w - - 0 29"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

29. Qe5 $1 (29. f6 $4 b2 30. f7 b1=Q 31. f8=Q Qxf1#) 29... Qc2 (29... Qc1 {
Would have made things much trickier! White has to find} 30. Kg2 $1 b2 31. Bd3
Qd1 32. Qe4 $18) 30. f6 b2 31. f7 b1=Q 32. f8=Q Ka6 33. Qeb8 Qxf1+ 34. Kxf1
Qxc4+ 35. Kg2 Qxa4 36. Qfe8 Qc4 37. Qee5 a4 38. Qbc7 1-0

Ukraine's GM Natalia Zhukova [Photo: D.Llada]

In the tenth round, India faced Ukraine, and since Soumya lost on the fourth board, it was up to Tania to beat Zhukova and save the team. And she did so with a beautifully played game in an unbalanced position.

[Event "42nd World Chess Olympiad Women"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.12"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Black "Zhukova, Natalia"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2402"]
[BlackElo "2475"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:35:30"]
[BlackClock "0:28:19"]

1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {2} 3. Nf3 {1} c5 {19} 4. d5 {0} exd5 {12} 5.
cxd5 {28} d6 {0} 6. Nc3 {14} g6 {30} 7. Bf4 {47} Bg7 {33} 8. Qa4+ {198} Bd7 {23
} 9. Qb3 {5} Qc7 {31} 10. e4 {89} O-O {19} 11. Be2 {49} b5 {33} 12. a3 {1060}
Na6 {2010} 13. Bxb5 {822} Nxe4 {313} 14. Bxd7 {564} Nxc3 {1157} 15. Bc6 {525}
Rab8 {231} 16. Qc4 {149} Rxb2 {377} 17. Qxa6 {65} Qe7+ {220} 18. Be3 {183} Nxd5
{704} 19. Bxd5 {82} Bc3+ {30} 20. Kf1 {238} Rb6 {7} 21. Qc4 {231} Bxa1 {30} 22.
g3 {14} Rb1+ {283} 23. Kg2 {0} Rxh1 {30} 24. Kxh1 {23} Bg7 {96} 25. Kg2 {185}
h6 {16} 26. h4 {22} Rb8 {187} 27. Bf4 {220} Rb2 {59} 28. Qd3 {403} Kh7 {127}
29. h5 {278} Qe2 {38} 30. Qxe2 {33} Rxe2 {133} 31. Bxd6 {30} Bd4 {30} 32. Nxd4
{42} cxd4 {1} 33. Bxf7 {20} gxh5 {24} 34. Bc5 {129} d3 {57} 35. Bc4 {28} Rd2 {3
} 36. Kf3 {175} Rd1 {17} 37. Bd4 {118} d2 {0} 38. Ke2 {0} Rh1 {0} 39. Kxd2 {0}
h4 {0} 40. Bd3+ {0} Kg8 {0} 41. gxh4 {0} Rxh4 {0} 42. Bxa7 {0} Ra4 {0} 43. Bc5
{0} h5 {0} 44. Ke3 {0} Kf7 {0} 45. Bb4 {0} 1-0

Black piles up on the isolated d4 pawn.

The final round was crucial in determining the team's final position. India was facing the US, and the Americans had already taken the lead as Padmini had lost on the second board. It was on Tania's shoulders once again to take the team to safety. She did it to the T, with the black pieces against Anna Zatonskih on the third board.

[Event "42nd World Chess Olympiad Women"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Zatonskih, Anna"]
[Black "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2449"]
[BlackElo "2402"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:47"]
[BlackClock "0:03:19"]

1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {32} e6 {0} 3. Nc3 {30} Bb4 {19} 4. Qc2 {30} O-O {34}
5. a3 {267} Bxc3+ {88} 6. Qxc3 {5} d5 {5} 7. Bg5 {260} b6 {280} 8. e3 {2253}
dxc4 {1153} 9. Bxc4 {116} Bb7 {3} 10. f3 {802} Nbd7 {92} 11. Ne2 {13} Rc8 {432}
12. Qd3 {313} c5 {290} 13. O-O {7} cxd4 {1245} 14. exd4 {20} Qe7 {81} 15. Nc3 {
357} Rfd8 {125} 16. Qe2 {185} Nf8 {204} 17. Rad1 {200} h6 {179} 18. Bc1 {86}
Nd5 {137} 19. Ne4 {40} Ng6 {151} 20. Ba2 {439} Ngf4 {129} 21. Bxf4 {30} Nxf4 {
30} 22. Qe3 {30} Qc7 {135} 23. Nc3 {228} Rd7 {231} 24. Rd2 {41} Rcd8 {269} 25.
Rfd1 {6} Nd5 {313} 26. Nxd5 {108} Bxd5 {7} 27. Bb1 {33} Bb7 {43} 28. Qd3 {170}
g6 {0} 29. Qe3 {0} Kg7 {129} 30. Ba2 {89} Bd5 {282} 31. Qe5+ {50} f6 {0} 32.
Qxc7 {30} Rxc7 {9} 33. Bxd5 {30} Rxd5 {30} 34. Kf2 {30} Kf7 {144} 35. Ke3 {26}
h5 {104} 36. g3 {0} Ke7 {0} 37. f4 {0} b5 {0} 38. Rd3 {0} a5 {0} 39. Rc3 {0}
Rcd7 {0} 40. b4 {0} axb4 {0} 41. axb4 {0} e5 {0} 42. fxe5 {0} fxe5 {0} 43. Rcd3
{0} Ke6 {0} 44. Ke4 {0} Rc7 {0} 45. dxe5 {145} Rxe5+ {0} 46. Kf3 {30} Rf7+ {0}
47. Kg2 {30} Re2+ {0} 48. Kg1 {30} Rff2 {0} 49. Rd6+ {30} Kf7 {0} 50. Rd7+ {30}
Kf6 {0} 51. Rf1 {30} Rxf1+ {0} 52. Kxf1 {3} Re4 {0} 53. Rd6+ {51} Kf7 {0} 54.
Rb6 {0} Rxb4 {0} 55. Kf2 {18} Rb3 {29} 56. Kg2 {150} b4 {41} 57. Kh3 {30} Rb2 {
177} 58. Rb7+ {4} Kf6 {24} 59. Rb6+ {0} Kf5 {74} 60. Rb5+ {67} Kf6 {155} 61.
Rb6+ {0} Kg5 {0} 62. Rb5+ {5} Kh6 {23} 63. Rb6 {31} b3 {93} 64. g4 {104} Kg5 {
159} 65. Rb5+ {5} Kf4 {10} 66. gxh5 {30} gxh5 {29} 67. Rxh5 {19} Rd2 {30} 68.
Rb5 {29} b2 {8} 69. Rb8 {105} Kf3 {64} 70. Rb7 {55} Rc2 {106} 71. Rb8 {6} Kf4 {
31} 72. Rb7 {56} Ke3 {45} 73. Kg3 {0} Kd2 {26} 74. h4 {16} Kc1 {10} 75. h5 {46}
Rc4 {12} 76. h6 {58} b1=Q {0} 77. Rxb1+ {0} Kxb1 {20} 78. h7 {4} Rc8 {2} 0-1

Do you want to play like Tania Sachdev?

Tania has recorded a wonderful series of DVDs for ChessBase.

Have you been in a situation where you felt lost in the middlegame? Many players rated below 1800 don’t know how to judge positions and develop their play – and their chess stagnates. Are you one of them?

To make matters worse, they refer to tonnes of useless chess material and get frustrated when their attempts go to waste.

On this DVD, well-known Indian WGM Tania Sachdev shows you how to evaluate certain positions and then find the right concepts and plans on the basis of her own games. Sachdev explains her own thoughts and recounts how she arrived at successful decisions and, as a result, played good moves. She will teach you to:

How to handle pawn structures
How to handle piece play
How to make the right exchanges

The first DVD in the two-part series touches on the positional themes that she displayed in the games you saw above. Learn from IM Tania Sachdev and improve and enjoy your chess!

BUY IMPROVE YOUR CHESS WITH TANIA SACHDEV NOW!

Soumya-Nemcova: White to play

Soumya had held the advantage for the most part of the game, but it was long and tiring. Now, she threw it away with 84.e7+? Instead, 84.Rf7+ Bc6+ 85.Kd8 Rd7+, etc. could have won, and perhaps helped India gain the medal? Soumya could only draw.

Thus, India and the USA settled for a 2.0-2.0 draw, with India taking the fifth place.

[Event "42nd World Chess Olympiad Women"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Soumya, Swaminathan"]
[Black "Nemcova, Katerina"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2379"]
[BlackElo "2365"]
[PlyCount "187"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:07"]
[BlackClock "0:01:34"]

1. e4 {4} e5 {0} 2. Nf3 {256} Nc6 {0} 3. Bb5 {37} a6 {5} 4. Ba4 {25} Nf6 {10}
5. O-O {15} Be7 {9} 6. d3 {30} b5 {285} 7. Bb3 {4} d6 {25} 8. a4 {34} Bd7 {72}
9. c3 {372} Na5 {47} 10. Bc2 {34} c5 {13} 11. Nbd2 {167} O-O {47} 12. Re1 {70}
Qb8 {550} 13. h3 {977} Re8 {490} 14. d4 {463} h6 {773} 15. Nf1 {523} Bf8 {385}
16. Ng3 {296} g6 {255} 17. d5 {259} Bg7 {158} 18. axb5 {66} axb5 {93} 19. b3 {
12} Qc7 {471} 20. Be3 {361} Kh7 {94} 21. Nd2 {30} Nb7 {318} 22. Qe2 {350} Ra5 {
120} 23. Bd3 {144} Rxa1 {700} 24. Rxa1 {3} b4 {33} 25. cxb4 {154} cxb4 {576}
26. Ra7 {3} Qb8 {30} 27. Nc4 {54} Nc5 {145} 28. Bxc5 {0} dxc5 {30} 29. Qa2 {23}
Kg8 {117} 30. Qa6 {485} Bb5 {85} 31. Qb7 {4} Qxb7 {170} 32. Rxb7 {3} Bxc4 {94}
33. Bxc4 {3} Rd8 {71} 34. Ra7 {446} Ne8 {65} 35. Nf1 {30} Nd6 {30} 36. Bd3 {30}
Bf8 {30} 37. Ne3 {30} h5 {30} 38. Ra5 {118} Rc8 {49} 39. Ra6 {30} Rd8 {30} 40.
Kf1 {0} Be7 {0} 41. Ke2 {0} f6 {0} 42. f3 {0} Kf7 {0} 43. Nc4 {0} Nxc4 {0} 44.
Bxc4 {2} Kf8 {0} 45. Kd3 {62} h4 {0} 46. Bb5 {29} Rd6 {0} 47. Ra8+ {56} Kg7 {0}
48. Ra7 {159} Kf8 {0} 49. Kc4 {75} f5 {0} 50. Bd7 {316} fxe4 {0} 51. fxe4 {3}
Rf6 {0} 52. Be6 {93} Rf4 {29} 53. d6 {30} Bxd6 {30} 54. Kd5 {30} Be7 {30} 55.
Kxe5 {30} Rf2 {24} 56. Ra8+ {3} Kg7 {30} 57. Ra7 {30} Kf8 {18} 58. Bd5 {157}
Bg5 {96} 59. Kd6 {53} Rf6+ {141} 60. Be6 {14} Rf2 {132} 61. e5 {0} Rxg2 {30}
62. Rf7+ {28} Ke8 {30} 63. Rh7 {53} Kf8 {0} 64. Rf7+ {3} Ke8 {23} 65. Bd5 {95}
Rd2 {19} 66. Rg7 {35} Bh6 {37} 67. Rxg6 {24} Bf8+ {47} 68. Ke6 {4} Rf2 {46} 69.
Bc6+ {103} Kd8 {6} 70. Bb5 {36} Be7 {55} 71. Rg8+ {25} Bf8 {80} 72. Bd3 {2} Kc7
{54} 73. Bf5 {2} Bh6 {30} 74. Kf6 {30} Be3 {50} 75. e6 {35} Bd4+ {23} 76. Kg6 {
4} Kd6 {22} 77. Rd8+ {12} Ke7 {12} 78. Rd7+ {30} Ke8 {13} 79. Rb7 {34} Re2 {35}
80. Kg5 {61} Re5 {34} 81. Kf4 {17} Re3 {59} 82. Bg6+ {49} Kf8 {56} 83. Be4 {6}
Re1 {19} 84. e7+ {6} (84. Rf7+ Ke8 (84... Kg8 85. Bd5 $18) 85. Bc6+ Kd8 86.
Rd7+ Kc8 87. Bb7+ Kb8 88. e7 Bf6 89. Be4 Rf1+ 90. Kg4 Rg1+ 91. Kf5 Bxe7 92.
Rxe7 $18) 84... Kf7 {32} 85. Bd5+ {96} Kf6 {23} 86. Be4 {57} Kf7 {2} 87. Kf5 {
41} Rf1+ {42} 88. Kg4 {30} Re1 {70} 89. Kf4 {15} Rf1+ {29} 90. Kg4 {28} Re1 {13
} 91. Kf3 {25} Re3+ {29} 92. Kf4 {4} Re1 {30} 93. Kf5 {46} Rf1+ {11} 94. Kg4 {
30} 1/2-1/2

Bodda Pratyusha did her job to perfection, scoring 2.5/3 in the three games she played in. [Photo: D.Llada]

Although Padmini struggled, we are sure that she will return to her usual form soon! Thus, Harika's timely comeback, Soumya's consistent 8.0/11, and Tania's stupendous 3.0/3 in the end made sure that India finished fifth despite the early struggles!

Final Standings:

Rg.	Snr	Team	Team	Anz	+	=	-	Wtg1	Wtg2	Wtg3	Wtg4
1	1	China	CHN	11	9	2	0	20	416,0	31,0	149,00
2	7	Poland	POL	11	8	1	2	17	427,5	33,0	152,00
3	2	Ukraine	UKR	11	7	3	1	17	404,5	30,5	156,00
4	3	Russia	RUS	11	7	2	2	16	380,5	29,0	157,00
5	5	India	IND	11	6	4	1	16	342,5	28,0	146,00
6	6	United States of America	USA	11	7	2	2	16	332,5	27,0	149,00
7	19	Vietnam	VIE	11	7	2	2	16	328,0	27,5	145,00
8	16	Azerbaijan 1	AZE	11	7	2	2	16	309,0	25,5	151,00
9	18	Israel	ISR	11	7	2	2	16	307,5	26,5	137,00
10	4	Georgia	GEO	11	7	1	3	15	356,5	30,5	137,00

More Indians!

Navini Choudary Alapati, originally from Andhra Pradesh, was representing Tanzania. [Photo: G. Sudhakaran]

WFM Poornima Menon (1837), who is originally from Kerala, was playing for Ireland and scored 4.0/9. [Photo: G. Sudhakaran]

WIM Jennitha Anto of Tamil Nadu played on the first board for IPCA (International Physically Disabled Chess Federation) and scored 5.5/10. [Photo: M. Emelienova]

The Chinese women's team took the gold. read the full report on the last round here.

In-depth coverage by Gopakumar Sudhakaran, who was present at Baku, will folow soon.

Games in PGN for Open and Women

Other Pairings

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