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World Teams R02: Tania powers team India to a win over USA

by Sagar Shah - 19/06/2017

The Indian team had something to cheer in the second round of the World Team Championship. The eves were able to get the better of USA with a score of 2.5-1.5. Tania Sachdev provided the crucial win, in a match that could have gone either way. The men's team lost their second match in a row, this time to China. Adhiban lost to Yu Yangyi, while the other three boards ended in a draw. It was a good fight, but the Chinese team played better. Game analysis and critical positions of round two.

Photos by Anastasiya Balakhontseva

Indian women beat USA 2.5-1.5, men slump to loss against China 1.5-2.5

Anna Zatonskih sat down on the first board of the US team against Harika. She opened the game with 1.d4. In team events, you are supposed to be pressing with the white pieces. But the US team had a completely different strategy. After just nine moves Zatonskih offered a draw to Harika. I think this was the first mistake made by the US team in the match. Harika, of course, accepted the draw and India already had a slight edge.

[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Zatonskih, Anna"]
[Black "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2417"]
[BlackElo "2535"]
[PlyCount "21"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8.
Qc2 c6 9. Rd1 b6 10. Bf4 Ba6 11. Ne5 1/2-1/2

 

Viji, Padmini and Adhiban enter the playing hall

After her harrowing loss yesterday, it was safe to assume that Viji would be rested. However, she came out to play today, hungry for a revenge. However, the legendary player was just too eager to force the issue. Her opponent Askhita Gorti played solid moves and got a completely winning position.

All that Akshita had to do was play ...Ne7! Now the c3 knight is hanging and after exd4 Qxd4 Black is just winning. Instead the US player went for a line that wasn't very convincing. It was still winning and in the final position where they accepted the draw, Black could have made a few more accurate moves and brought home the full point. But it was not to be. Viji managed to survive.

[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"]
[Black "Gorti, Akshita"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E00"]
[WhiteElo "2375"]
[BlackElo "2240"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. a3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. Nf3 d5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qa4+ Qd7 8. Qc2
dxc4 9. e3 Bxf3 10. gxf3 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. a4 c6 13. axb5 cxb5 14. Qe4 Nc6
15. Nxb5 Rb8 16. Nc3 Rxb2 {Black is already better after the opening.} 17. Bxc4
f5 18. Qf4 Bb4 19. Rc1 Rg8 $1 {Akshita plays well and White is almost lost.}
20. Bd3 e5 21. Qh6 exd4 22. Qxh7 {[%cal Gc6e7]} Rg6 (22... Ne7 {was the
finishing shot. Mainly because the knight on c4 is hanging, so the d4 pawn
must be taken.} 23. exd4 Qxd4 24. Bb5+ Kd8 $19 {Now there is absolutely no way
to continue the game.}) 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Qh4+ Ke8 (24... Rf6 $19 25. exd4 Nxd4
{The position is just lost.}) 25. Qh8+ Ke7 26. Qh4+ Ke8 1/2-1/2

The all important win came from Tania Sachdev, who beat the US women's champion Sabina Foisor with white
Tania's victory looked very clinical. She played strong moves throughout the game and with little or almost no errors managed to outplay her opponent. However, there was one critical position where, according to me, Sabina could have given her opponent a tough time.
What would you do in this position as Black?

White is threatening h4 at some point. Also we would like our knight to be on d6. Hence, the correct move here would be ...Bh4. I quite like this move. Follow it up with Ne8-d6 and I think Black has a perfectly fine position. However, Foisor went for the move ...a5. While it seems like you are attacking the white king, in reality, this move followed by ...b5 is just creating weaknesses. White was able to breakthrough faster on the kingside because of the g6 pawn being a hook and Tania won the game.

[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Black "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2408"]
[BlackElo "2331"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Qc2 $5 {This is an interesting idea.
But I do not think that developing your queen to c2 can be better than 5.Bg5
or 5.Bf4 lines.} O-O 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bf4 {Tania wants to go for an original
position.} c6 (7... c5 {Because White has developed his queen to c2, I am
inclined to open up the position with this move. That being said, Sabina's
move is perfectly fine.}) 8. e3 Nh5 9. Be5 Nd7 10. Bd3 g6 $1 {This is entire
cohesive system of development for Black.} 11. O-O-O $5 {Tania spices it up.}
Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Ng7 {I like Black's position quite a bit. Not only does she have
the double bishops, White's attacking chances are not so great on the kingside.
} 13. h3 Bf5 $1 {I like this move. Usually the exchange of light squared
bishops helps Black to equalize the position.} (13... f6 14. Nf3 Be6 15. g4 b5
{White's attacking runs through pretty quickly here.} 16. Rdg1 Qd7 17. h4 b4 (
17... Bxg4 18. Bxg6 $18) 18. Na4 Bxg4 19. Bxg6 Bxf3 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Qg6 $16)
14. g4 Bxd3 15. Nxd3 {I think Black has equalized.} a5 (15... Bh4 {[%cal Gg7e8,
Ge8d6] I really like this move. It stops h4. Next up is the knight coming from
e8-d6 where it will be perfectly stationed.}) 16. Kb1 b5 17. h4 $1 {Now
Tania's attack runs faster than Black's.} h6 18. f4 $1 {Black's idea with
b5-a5 has backfired as there are no hooks on the queenside. On the kingside
the pawns h6 and g6, give White ample opportunity to open lines.} a4 19. f5 g5
20. hxg5 Bxg5 21. e4 $1 {And after this point, it is clear that Black is
struggling.} a3 (21... dxe4 22. Nxe4 $18) 22. b3 Re8 23. e5 f6 24. Ne2 Rc8 25.
Qc5 (25. e6 $18 {creating a strong passer is the human way to play. With the
e6 pawn, c5 square, Black is just lost.}) 25... Qe7 26. Qxe7 Rxe7 27. b4 h5 28.
gxh5 Nxf5 29. Rdf1 Ne3 30. exf6 Nxf1 31. fxe7 Nd2+ 32. Kc2 Kf7 $6 (32... Ne4 {
was a better try.} 33. Nc3 Bxe7 (33... Nxc3 34. Kxc3 Bxe7 35. Rg1+ Kh7 36. Rg6
$16) 34. Re1 $16 {White is better, but Black is fighting.}) 33. Nef4 (33. Ne5+
Kxe7 34. h6 Kf6 35. h7 Rh8 36. Ng3 Nc4 37. Nh5+ Ke6 38. Ng6 Rxh7 39. Nf8+ $18)
33... Ne4 34. Ng6 Bxe7 35. Nde5+ Ke6 36. h6 {The h-pawn just runs through.} Nf6
37. Nxe7 Kxe7 38. h7 Nxh7 39. Rxh7+ {Tania wins a piece and the rest is just
easy.} Ke6 40. Rh6+ Kf5 41. Rxc6 Rh8 42. Rc3 Ke4 43. Nc6 Ra8 44. Kb3 Ra6 45.
Rc5 Kd3 46. Ne7 Rb6 47. Nxd5 Rb8 48. Nc3 Kxd4 49. Nxb5+ Kd3 50. Kxa3 Ke4 51.
Kb3 {Sabina played well in the opening. When she had to improve her pieces
with Bh4 and Ne8-d6, she went for a queenside attack which proved to be
incorrect. Tania was pretty much ruthless after that point.} 1-0

The onus was now on Padmini to defend her inferior position.

To put it in simple words, White is just two pawns up. Padmini, who was black, had her back against the wall.

Rout defended with all her concentration and managed to extract the half point, sealing team India's 2.5-1.5 victory over USA
[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Nemcova, Katerina"]
[Black "Padmini, Rout"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2313"]
[BlackElo "2375"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Qb6 8.
Qb3 Qxb3 9. Nxb3 Nh5 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Kf7 14. Rc1
Bd6 15. a3 Ne7 16. Bd3 b6 17. Ke2 g4 18. Ne1 h5 19. Kd2 Bd7 20. Rc3 Rh6 21. Nc1
b5 22. b4 a5 23. Nc2 axb4 24. axb4 Ra4 25. Be2 e5 26. Nd3 Rh8 27. Nc5 Bxc5 28.
Rxc5 Ra2 29. Kc3 Bf5 30. Bd3 Ke6 31. Rxb5 Bxd3 32. Kxd3 Nf5 33. Ra5 Ra8 34.
Rxa2 Rxa2 35. Rxh5 Nd6 36. dxe5 fxe5 37. f4 gxf3 38. gxf3 {Padmini is two
pawns down. But she is fighting hard.} Rb2 39. Rh6+ Kd7 40. Kc3 Rb1 41. g4 Rf1
42. Rh3 Nb5+ 43. Kb2 d4 44. exd4 exd4 {Somehow thanks to the d-pawn Black has
managed to keep some counterplay.} 45. Rh5 Kc6 46. Rc5+ Kb6 47. Rd5 Kc6 48.
Rc5+ Kb6 49. Rd5 (49. g5 d3 (49... Rxf3 50. Rxb5+ $18) 50. Ne3 Rxf3 51. Nc4+
Ka6 52. Rc6+ Ka7 {The position will mostly end in a draw, but at least White
is trying.}) 49... Kc6 50. Rc5+ {Accepting a draw was like suicide. USA was 2.
0-1.0 down in the match and went on to lose 2.5-1.5.} 1/2-1/2

Results of round two:

Round 2 on 2017/06/18 at 15:00
No. SNo. Team Res. Team SNo.
1 10 UKRAINE 2-2 CHINA 6
2 7 VIETNAM 1-3 RUSSIA 5
3 8 AZERBAIJAN 4-0 EGYPT 4
4 9 GEORGIA 2-2 POLAND 3
5 1 UNITED STATES 1.5-2.5 INDIA 2

For a board wise break down, click here

Indian women's team now faces Ukraine in round three.

Crosstable Women

Rank Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 MP Pts.
1 RUSSIA *       3     3     4 6
2 POLAND   *       3½ 2       3 5½
3 INDIA     *       2   2½   3 4½
4 UKRAINE       *       2 2½   3 4½
5 VIETNAM 1       *         4 2 5
6 AZERBAIJAN   ½       *       4 2 4½
7 GEORGIA   2 2       *       2 4
8 CHINA 1     2       *     1 3
9 UNITED STATES     1½ 1½         *   0 3
10 EGYPT         0 0       * 0 0

Open section:

Fighting it out against the strong Chinese team was always going to be difficult. They have sent their best team to the tournament. But the Indians fought well. And at one point we had a realistic chance of beating them. This was mainly because Sasikiran was all over Wei Yi and was completely winning in the early middlegame. That game ended in a draw, and Adhiban misplayed an equal position against Yu Yangyi. This led to India's loss.

Vidit is proving it quite well that he was the right choice to be on board one!

Vidit drew against Ding Liren, but in the final position he could have played on for a win. True, in the heat of the battle it is easy to assess the position incorrectly. But where the players agreed for a draw, Vidit could have pushed on without much of a risk.

This is the position we are talking about. Vidit repeated the position with Rfc8 Qf1 Rf8 Qc4. However, instead he could have played ...Qb6 in the above position. It does look scary to leave your king on h7 alone, but the bishop on e5 is doing an admirable job. Meanwhile after the a6 pawn falls, the white king is also in grave danger. White will have to exchange the queens and in the resulting opposite coloured bishop endgame Black has a risk free advantage with an extra pawn.

[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2692"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "China"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 Be7 8. g5
Nfd7 9. Be3 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. h4 Nc6 12. Rg1 Nc5 13. f3 O-O 14. Qd2 Rb8 15. h5
Qc7 16. Qh2 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 e5 18. Be3 f5 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. O-O-O Ne6 21. Kb1 Nf4
22. Bh3 Bc6 23. Bxf4 exf4 24. Be6+ Kh8 25. Nd5 Bxd5 26. Bxd5 b4 27. a4 Qe7 28.
Qd2 Qe5 29. Qc1 h6 30. Bb3 Qxh5 31. Rg4 Qe5 32. Rd5 Qe7 33. Ra5 Qa7 34. Rxf4
Be5 35. Rh4 Rxf3 36. Rxa6 Qe7 37. Rh1 Rc8 38. Qd2 Qf6 39. Ka2 Rb8 40. Qd5 Kh7
41. Ra8 Qd8 42. Ra7 Qb6 43. Rd7 Qe3 44. a5 Qe2 45. Qe6 Qe3 46. a6 Ra8 47. Kb1
Rff8 48. Qc4 Rfc8 (48... Qb6 $1 {Would have given Vidit a chance to continue
playing for a win.} 49. Qe6 Rf6 50. Qc4 (50. Qg4 Rg6 $19) 50... d5 $1 {A
strong move opening up the rook on f6 to look at the a6 pawn.} (50... Qxa6 51.
Qxa6 Rxa6 $17 {is also a pleasant endgame.}) 51. Qxd5 (51. exd5 Qxa6 $1 52.
Qxa6 Rfxa6 {is just winning.}) 51... Qxa6 52. Rxg7+ Kxg7 53. Rg1+ Rg6 54. Qxe5+
Kh7 55. Qe7+ Kh8 56. Qe5+ Qf6 57. Qxf6+ Rxf6 $17 {And Black has chances to win
this.}) 49. Qf1 Rf8 50. Qc4 Rfc8 51. Qf1 Rf8 {Vidit doesn't risk it and the
game ends in a draw.} 1/2-1/2

Vidit analyzing with Ding Liren after the game. The boy from Nashik now has a live rating of 2698.7.

Adhiban has not yet fired in the tournament. With two losses, what he might really need is a rest day now. He played quite a poor game against Yu Yangyi, which was pretty uncharacteristic of him.

[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Black "Yu, Yangyi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C25"]
[WhiteElo "2670"]
[BlackElo "2749"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "China"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CHN"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 {This is the same line with which Adhiban had beaten
Andreikin at the Tata Steel 2017.} Bc5 4. Bg2 a6 5. Nge2 d6 6. O-O Nge7 7. Nd5
O-O 8. c3 Nxd5 9. exd5 Ne7 10. d4 exd4 11. Nxd4 Nf5 12. Nf3 Qf6 {Black has
been able to get a decent position out of the opening. That being said Adhiban
wouldn't have been too upset with his position as well. He has the space and
good development.} 13. b4 Ba7 14. Bb2 Re8 15. Qd2 Qh6 16. Rfe1 Bd7 17. Qxh6
Nxh6 18. h3 $6 (18. c4 $11 Ng4 19. Bd4 $11 {I don't see anything wrong with
White's position.}) 18... Nf5 {Now the g3 pawn is hanging.} 19. Nd4 Bxd4 20.
cxd4 {White structure has been ruined.} a5 21. Rec1 Rec8 22. bxa5 Rxa5 23. Bc3
Ra4 24. Rab1 b6 {The d4 and a2 pawns are weak, while Black has only one
weakness right now -c7.} 25. Rb2 h5 (25... Nxd4 26. Bxd4 Rxd4 27. Rbc2 {
recovers the pawn.}) 26. Bf3 Nxd4 27. Bxd4 Rxd4 28. Rbc2 Bxh3 29. Rxc7 Ra8 30.
R1c6 h4 $1 {A nice move by Yu Yangyi, softening up the white king.} 31. Kh2 $6
(31. gxh4 Rxa2 32. Rxb6 {White had decent chances for a draw.}) 31... Bf5 $1
32. gxh4 Rxh4+ 33. Kg3 Rh3+ 34. Kg2 Rh6 35. Kg3 Rxa2 36. Rxb6 Rg6+ (36... Ra3
$1 $19) 37. Kf4 Rf6 38. Rb4 Ra3 39. Kg3 Be4 40. Rxe4 Raxf3+ 41. Kg4 Rxf2 {
Black is now two pawns up and confidently converts.} 42. Rc3 Rg6+ 43. Kh3 Rh6+
44. Kg3 Rf5 {Maybe Adhiban could have fought on for a bit, but the endgame is
just hopeless.} 0-1

After hectic travel schedule (Cuba to India and India to Khanty Mansiysk) Sasikiran was finally seen in action. He played a great game to outplay Wei Yi, but faltered at the crucial moment.

White has just taken a piece on f5. Sasi would really like to maintain the queens on the board. He is a pawn up and has an excellent position. However, ...Rxf5 is met with Bd4. Hence, he took on f5 with the queen. But after Qxf5 Rxf5, White had some hopes and went on to save the game. Instead, in the above position, Black could have won the game with ...h5! attacking the queen and after Qxh5 Rxf5 comes with the tempo. The other rook can then swoop in on e4 and the pawn moves to d4, all in all it is completely lost position for White.

[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2728"]
[BlackElo "2669"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "China"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 b4
9. a5 O-O 10. Nbd2 Rb8 11. h3 Be6 12. Nc4 h6 13. Re1 Qc8 14. Be3 Rd8 15. Qe2
Bf8 16. Nfd2 Re8 17. Ba4 Bd7 18. Qf3 Kh7 19. Nf1 {White is clearly pushing at
this point. But Sasikiran has made sure that he is not let the advantage slip
too much.} Ne7 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21. Ng3 Ng6 22. d4 $6 {From here on the fireworks
begin.} Qc6 $1 23. b3 Nh4 {A great move by Sasi.} 24. Qe2 Nxe4 $1 {Boldly
taking the pawn.} 25. dxe5 Nc3 26. Qf1 (26. Qd3+ g6 27. exd6 Qxg2# {just in
case you missed it.}) 26... d5 27. Nd2 Rxe5 $17 {Black is just a simple pawn
up.} 28. Qd3+ Kg8 29. Qd4 Qf6 30. Qg4 Rbe8 31. Ndf1 Nf5 (31... c5 {Black has
completely dominating position and for a player of Sasikiran's calibre this
should be pretty easy to win.}) 32. Nxf5 Qxf5 $6 {Settling for a little too
less!} (32... h5 $1 33. Qxh5 Rxf5 34. Qg4 Re4 35. Qg3 d4 36. Bd2 Ne2+ $19 {
White is unconditionally busted.}) (32... Rxf5 33. Bd4 $16) 33. Qxf5 Rxf5 34.
Bd4 Re6 35. Ne3 Rh5 36. g4 $1 {Smart play by Wei Yi. Sacrificing another pawn
to trap the black rook.} Rxh3 37. Kg2 Rh4 (37... Rhxe3 38. Rxe3 Rxe3 39. Bxe3
f6 $11 {would be have been a round about even position.}) 38. Bxc3 bxc3 39. Kg3
g5 40. Ng2 Bd6+ 41. f4 Rf6 42. Rf1 (42. Nxh4 gxh4+ 43. Kxh4 Rxf4 {is fine for
Black.}) 42... d4 43. Rad1 c5 (43... Rxf4 44. Nxf4 h5 $1 {This is an easy move
to miss!} 45. Rxd4 Rxg4+ 46. Kf3 Bxf4 {And if anyone is better, it is Black.})
44. b4 cxb4 45. Rxd4 b3 46. cxb3 c2 47. Rc1 Ba3 48. Rxc2 Rh1 {Miraculously the
rook has escaped from its h4 prison!} 49. Rc8+ Kg7 50. Rdd8 Re6 51. Re8 Rb1 52.
Rxe6 fxe6 53. Rc6 Rxb3+ 54. Kf2 Rb5 55. fxg5 hxg5 56. Rxa6 Bb4 {Sasi played
well, but in the early middlegame he was completely winning.} 1/2-1/2

 

You have to give it to this guy! He hardly plays chess for two years and then comes to the board and is holding his own against the best players in the world. Parimarjan Negi drew his game against Li Chao.
[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.18"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Negi, Parimarjan"]
[Black "Li, Chao b"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2670"]
[BlackElo "2720"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "148"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "China"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CHN"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8.
Nbd2 Nd6 9. c3 Bf5 10. Bxf5 Nxf5 11. Qb3 b6 12. Re1 Qd7 13. Nf1 f6 14. Qc2 O-O
15. Be3 Bd6 16. Re2 Rae8 17. Rae1 Nd8 18. Bc1 Rxe2 19. Qxe2 c6 20. h4 g6 21. h5
gxh5 22. Ne3 Re8 23. Nxd5 $1 {A nice simplifying tactic.} Rxe2 24. Nxf6+ Kf7
25. Nxd7 Rxe1+ 26. Nxe1 Ke6 27. Ne5 Bxe5 28. dxe5 Kxe5 {In the resulting
position White has a better structure, but Black's active king ensures that
Black has excellent drawing chances.} 29. Nf3+ (29. Nd3+ {might have been a
better try.} Ke4 30. Nf4 h4 31. Kh2 $16) 29... Ke4 30. Kf1 Ne6 31. Ke2 b5 32.
g3 c5 33. Bg5 c4 34. Bf6 a5 35. Ng5+ Nxg5 36. Bxg5 {This is just even.} a4 37.
Bf6 Nd6 38. Bd4 Kd5 39. a3 Nf5 40. Bf6 Ke4 41. Bg5 Ng7 42. Be7 Ne6 43. f3+ Kf5
44. Ke3 Ke5 45. Bb4 Ng7 46. Bc5 Kd5 47. Bf8 Ne6 48. Be7 Ke5 49. g4 Nc7 50. f4+
Ke6 51. Bd8 Nd5+ 52. Ke4 hxg4 53. f5+ Kd7 54. Bh4 Ne7 55. Kf4 h5 56. Kg5 Ke8
57. f6 Nd5 58. Kxh5 g3 59. Kg6 g2 60. f7+ Kf8 61. Bf2 Nf4+ 62. Kf6 Nd5+ 63. Ke5
Nc7 64. Kd6 Na6 65. Ke6 Nc7+ 66. Kd6 Na6 67. Kc6 b4 68. Kb5 bxa3 69. bxa3 Nc7+
70. Kxc4 Kxf7 71. Kc5 Ke6 72. c4 Kd7 73. Kb4 Kc6 74. Kxa4 Ne6 {A good fighting
game by Parimarjan. He is showing no real rustiness in spite of playing after
such a long gap.} 1/2-1/2

India plays Belarus in round three. It is a tricky decision for coach Ramesh. Should he rest Adhiban and get Karthikeyan to the board, or persist with Adhiban and hope that he comes back to form! We shall see.

Results of round two:

Round 2 on 2017/06/18 at 15:00
No. SNo. Team Res. Team SNo.
1 10 BELARUS 2-2 UKRAINE 6
2 7 RUSSIA 2-2 TURKEY 5
3 8 NORWAY 2.5-1.5 EGYPT 4
4 9 POLAND 2.5-1.5 UNITED STATES 3
5 1 CHINA 2.5-1.5 INDIA 2
For board wise break down, click here

Crosstable Open:

Rank Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 MP Pts.
1 CHINA *             2½ 3½   6 4
2 RUSSIA   *     2         3½ 5½ 3
3 POLAND     * 2½       2½     5 4
4 UNITED STATES     1½ *     2½       4 2
5 TURKEY   2     * 2         4 2
6 UKRAINE         2 *     2   4 2
7 NORWAY       1½     *     2½ 4 2
8 INDIA 1½   1½         *     3 0
9 BELARUS ½         2     *   2½ 1
10 EGYPT   ½         1½     * 2 0

China and Poland lead the event with 4.0/4 points

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