World Teams 2019 Rounds 3-5: The unbeaten team India

by Sagar Shah - 10/03/2019

Five rounds have been completed at the World Team Championships 2019. India has faced some really strong teams like China, Iran, England, but we haven't lost a match. Before the rest day team India is on 7.0/10, two points behind Russia, in the second position. The nice thing to see is that in each match a different player is coming up with the goods. For example against China it was Ganguly who beat Yu Yangyi and equalized the score, while against England it was Sethuraman who beat Gawain Jones for 2-2 tie. Adhiban has been in great form on board one with 4.0/5. In the women's section China is leading with a score of 10/10. Indian women's team with 6.0/10 have a chance to fight for the bronze medal, but need a strong finish in the last four rounds.

The most heartening thing about the men's Indian team has been that in every round we have had a different player put up his hand to save the team from a loss. In round four against China, it was Surya Sekhar Ganguly who beat Yu Yangyi, while in round five it was Sethuraman who called the shots to get the better of Gawain Jones. In both the matches against China and England we ended with a 2-2 tie. Let's first begin with round three where India managed to score a comfortable 3.5-0.5 victory against Egypt.

Aravindh got his first game to play at the World Team Championships and he didn't disappoint. He won his game against Imed Abdelnabbi (2435). This helped India to a 3.5-0.5 victory over Egypt. | Photo: David Llada

Results of round 3. Russia beating China was the big news of the day. It was Ian Nepomniachtchi that gave a win to Russia with his fine game against Yu Yangyi.

Adhiban managed to beat Bassem Amin that took his live rating to 2698.5. This was the second time that Adhiban beat Amin. The last time was at tournament of peace where the Indian GM played coffee house chess and defeated his opponent with some inspired play. Check out the video explanation of that game by Adhiban. | Photo: David Llada

In round 4, India faced the strong team of China. But it was clear that China was suffering, having lost to USA in one of the previous rounds. This time Ni Hua was rested and Bu Xiangzhi represented China on board 4. This was a good decision because it was Bu Xiangzhi that gave China a full point by beating Aravindh Chithambaram. Ganguly rose up to the occasion and playing some inspired chess managed to equalize the score, with Adhiban drawing his game against Ding Liren and Sethuraman against Wei Yi.

Ganguly's game was filled with tactical ideas and is worthy of deeper introspection. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Adhiban drew his game against Ding Liren and reached an Elo of 2700. An article was dedicated to him on ChessBase India after his phenomenal achievement. | Photo: David Llada

Adhiban's interview with Yannick Pelletier after he crossed 2700 Elo

Aravindh had a hard time against Bu Xiangzhi | Photo: David Llada

England managed to hold Russia to 2-2 after all the games ended in a draw

The round 5 match between India and England ended in a 2-2 draw | Photo: David Llada

Sasikiran lost his game against Luke Mcshane | Photo: David Llada

Sethuraman's win against Gawain Jones was positional chess at the highest level. It seemed as if Sethuraman was playing in the same vein as Anatoly Karpov as he nursed a small advantage right until the very end! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Interview with Sethuraman after he beat Gawain Jones

Results of round 5:

No real upsets in the round, but Azerbaijan winning against the in form USA team was slightly unexpected. Although Russia beat Kazkhstan, on top board Rinat Jumabayev did beat Sergey Karjakin

Beating Karjakin is a news worth sharing! | Photo: David Llada

Standings after round 5 in open section

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	9	Russia	5	4	1	0	9	13,0	0
2	1	India	5	2	3	0	7	13,0	0
3	5	England	5	2	3	0	7	11,0	0
4	8	United States of America	5	2	2	1	6	10,5	0
5	2	Iran	5	2	1	2	5	11,5	0
6	4	China	5	2	1	2	5	11,0	0
7	6	Kazakhstan	5	1	2	2	4	9,5	0
8	10	Sweden	5	2	0	3	4	7,5	0
9	7	Azerbaijan	5	1	1	3	3	8,0	0
10	3	Egypt	5	0	0	5	0	5,0	0

Women's section

In round three the Indian team scored a fine win against Armenia. Soumya Swaminathan lost her game against Lilit Mkrtchian, but Padmini Rout and Bhakti Kulkarni won their games on boards three and four to give India a 2.5-1.5 victory.

Bhakti Kulkarni with 2.5/3 has played some excellent chess for India on board four | Photo: David Llada

In round four India lost by a big margin to Russia. Soumya was the only one who could draw her game against Kosteniuk. Eesha lost to Lagno, Tania, who played her first game, was downed by Goryachkina and Bhakti couldn't save the half point against Girya.

In round five the Indian team won 4-0 against Egypt

With the Chinese team on 10.0/10 and Russia on 8.0/10, it seems as if India will be fighting for the bronze medal. Ukraine, Georgia and USA will be the teams in the run. We need a strong finish from the girls in the last four rounds. With China, Ukraine and USA still left to play, this is not going to be easy.

Standings after round 5 in women's section:

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	4	China	5	5	0	0	10	13,5	0
2	2	Russia	5	4	0	1	8	15,5	0
3	6	Ukraine	5	2	3	0	7	13,0	0
4	8	Georgia	5	2	2	1	6	12,0	0
5	3	India	5	2	2	1	6	11,0	0
6	5	United States of America	5	2	1	2	5	10,0	0
7	9	Kazakhstan	5	1	2	2	4	9,0	0
8	1	Armenia	5	1	0	4	2	8,5	0
9	7	Hungary	5	1	0	4	2	6,0	0
10	10	Egypt	5	0	0	5	0	1,5	0

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