India goes down fighting

CHENNAI: India went down fighting against defending champion Russia 1.5-2.5 after Arun Prasad lost the deciding fourth board encounter to Nikita Vitugov in the sixth round of the World Team chess championship at Bursa in Turkey on Sunday.

India has lost by the same narrow margin to Russia (Calvia Olympiad 2004) and to the Soviet Union (Novi Sad Olympiad 1990) but never came as close to making a draw as it did in Sunday’s match. All the Indian players, who were lower rated than their opponents, put up a stiff fight.

Russia’s victory over India helped it join United States in the lead on 10 match points. India, with seven points, shares the third place with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Israel. India’s medal chances haven’t been dented. Most teams at the top face stiff opponents while India has a comparatively easier draw.

The results (round six): India (7) lost to Russia (10) (K. Sasikiran drew with Alexander Grischuk, P. Harikrishna drew with Dmitry Jakovenko, S.S. Ganguly drew with Vladimir Malakhov, Arun Prasad lost to Nikita Vitugov) 1.5-2.5, Armenia (7) lost to Greece (6) 1-3, USA (10) bt Brazil (2) 3-1, Azerbaijan (7) drew with Israel (7) 2-2, Turkey (1) drew with Egypt (3) 2-2. — Arvind Aaron