Tania, Humpy and Bhakti win as India go a point clear with only a round to play
MAMALLPURAM: Tania Sachdev started her clock and covered her face before playing the first move against Xeniya Balabayeva of Kazakhstan. May be she took a deep breath and said a prayer to herself as she embarked on her must-win journey with white pieces.
And by the end of the day, her prayers were answered.
Not only did top seeds India beat 10th seed Kazakhstan 3. 5-0. 5 in the 10th and penultimate round, a draw between Georgia and Poland - the other overnight leaders - took India to sole lead with 17 match points. Now, the women's first ever Olympiad medal - and a gold at that - is entirely in their hands.
If they win on Tuesday morning (the games begin at 10am), they will get two match points for the victory which will take them beyond the reach of any other team. Four teams - Poland, Azerbaijan, Georgia and undefeated Ukraine - are on 16 points and they can only come into the equation for gold if the Indian girls drop points on the final day.
As the tension unfolded, Tania struck first (Vienna variation, Semi-Slav, 31 moves). Bhakti Kulkarni, playing her first over-the-board Olympiad, added to the script (Six Pawns Attack, Kings Indian Defence, 47 moves) with a win over Guliskhan Nakhbayeva.
Though Vaishali agreed for a draw after being better for most of her game against reigning world women's blitz champion and rapid runner-up Binbisara Asabayeva with black pieces, K Humpy won on the top board against Zhansaya Abdumalik with white. She ended her winless streak, which included a defeat too, of three games.
After drawing 2-2 with second seeds Ukraine and losing to fourth seeds Poland on successive days, Monday was almost a must-win situation for the women. And it showed in the line-up.
D Harika, who had seven draws in a row, was rested. International Master Bhakti (Elo 2373), aged 30, took her place but played on the fourth board. She was rested for six rounds despite winning the first three. But she didn't show any sign of unpreparedness with a clinical win, marching her queen through the 'h' file and winning a knight.
If Tania heaved a sigh of relief after winning her game, Bhakti appeared more composed. Captain Abhijit Kunte gave a pat on her back immediately after she made it 2-0 for India.
The moment came when Bhakti signed the scoresheet and arranged the pieces back on the board. She then gave a smile of satisfaction. Abdumalik misplayed the Queen's Gambit Declined SemiSlav Meran set up and made a dubious knight move on the 11th turn, She took 17 minutes for her 13th move and later played quickly.
But Humpy used her advantage without major hiccups. In a rook and two pawns vs knight and two pawns endgame, Humpy made Abdumalik run out of a surviving continuation after 56 moves.
Vaishali's was a topsy-turvy Grunfeld defense game against Bibisara. At one point, the Indian had a queen and five pawns vs two rooks and seven pawns with both sets of bishop and knight also on the board. When the draw was agreed after 50 moves, Vaishali had a queen and four pawns vs two rooks and four pawns.
In the other India result, the second team outplayed Holland 3-1 despite Vantika Agarwal's defeat on the first board. The third team also won 3-1 against Sweden with Eesha Karavade drawing Pia Cramling on the first board while PV Nandhidhaa and Pratyusha Bodda won their games.
