Indian men lose narrowly to Armenia in World team Chess C’ship

The Press Trust of India
July 24, 2011 Sunday

Indian men lose narrowly to Armenia in World team Chess C’ship

Ningbo (China) July 24 2011

The Indian men went down to leaders Armenia by a minimal 1.5-2.5
margin in the sixth round of World team Chess Championship here.

A game-changing novelty by Levon Aronian on the top board against P
Harikrishna paved the way for the Armenians to go ahead and while the
Indians did well to hold on the remaining boards, the lone victory
gave them another two points.

In the process, the Armenians also stretched their lead to two points
after nearest rivals Russia and Hungary were held to draws by Ukraine
and United States respectively.

Apart from Armenia, hosts China were the only other winners as the
match between Israel and Azerbaijan also ended in a 2-2 draw. China
trounced Egypt 3.5-0.5 to come back in medal contention.

With Armenia on ten points out of a possible 12, Russia and Hungary
are still close behind on eight points apiece and it seems that the
battle for the gold is only between these three teams.

Ukraine and China share the fourth spot on seven points each while
Azerbaijan and United States have six points for a shared sixth spot.

Israel is on five points while Indians remained on three points after
the debacle against Armenia. Egypt is still to open their account.
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