P. Hari Krishna and K. Sasikiran played their parts to perfection as India took its time to get the better of 40th seed Egypt 2.5-1.5 in the seventh round of the Chess Olympiad here on Monday.
This victory, coupled with a several draws on the leading tables, took the fifth seeded Indians to the joint fifth place. Four rounds remain.
The Indian women, seeded five, played out draws on all four boards against host and fourth seed Georgia-1. Only D. Harika raised visions of a possible win on Board Two but missed the precise continuation after holding a one-pawn advantage.
Poland along with Azerbaijan, which it held to a 2-2 draw on this day, and favourite USA were joint leaders at 13 match-points.
In the Open section, after Viswanathan Anand drew with Baseem Amin on the top board, Hari completed a dominating victory over former World junior champion Ahmed Adly in 42 moves.
Like Hari, Sasikiran, too, came out stronger with black pieces against Abdelrahman Hesham in a slow-paced battle lasting 55 moves. It was a masterly display by the Indian who seized his opportunity to score a very significant win in the context of the medal-race. Sasikiran’s triumph made the decisive difference between the teams.
However, the defeat of Vidit Gujarati, that too with white pieces, was a setback to the Indian plans moving forward.
Seventh round results: Open: India (11) bt Egypt (10) 2.5-1.5 (Viswanathan Anand drew with Baseem Amin; P. Hari Krishna bt Ahmed Adly; Vidit Gujarati lost to Adham Fawzy; K. Sasikiran bt Abdelrahman Hesham); Poland (13) drew with Azerbaijan (13) 2-2)
Women: India (11) drew with Georgia-1 (12) 2-2 (K. Humpy drew with Nana Dzagnidze; D. Harika drew with Lela Javakhishvili; Tania Sachdev drew with Nino Batsiashvili; Padmini Rout drew with Bela Khotenashvili).