Indian men suffered a major setback in their quest for a medal as they succumbed to their second straight loss in the 36th Chess Olympiad, going down to Cuba 1.5 - 2.5 in a lop-sided contest in Mallorca at Grand Casino.
In the absence of Viswanathan Anand, the Indian team lacked a top player and it showed in their play. Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikrian got a draw on the top board against Lenier Dominiguez, GM P Harikrishna was forced to share the point with Neuris Delgado, Sandipan Chanda tried hard but in the end had to sign peace with former World Junior Champion Walter Arencibia and on the third board Abhijit Kunte failed to tackle Jesus Nogueiras and went down quite tamely.
Overnight leaders Ukrainians were in for a surprise against spirited Americans in the all-draw-affair on the top table after Alexander Goldin of the US could not spot the correct plan against Pavel Eljanov and blew what experts thought to be a clear better position.
The result helped Ukraine maintain their no-loss record in the event and moved to 29 points, still two points clear of Russia that closed in after beating France 2.5-1.5.
With just four rounds remaining, Armenians jumped to sole third spot on 26.5 after drubbing Slovenia 3.5-0.5. The US hold the fourth spot on 26 while Azerbaijan, Cuba and Israel remain on their toes with 25 points each in their kitty. With Switzerland holding the next spot on 24.5, the Indians slipped to joint 9th spot after the debacle and it
would require a very good effort from them in the remaining round to make a comeback.
In the 10th round nothing worked right for them as Krishnan Sasikiran escalated between slightly worse and equal position in his game against Lenier Dominiguez.
Opting to open with the Berlin defence as black in the Ruy Lopez, Sasikiran was certainly matched Dominiguez early on but the opening itself has a reputation of not giving much leverage to black.
As it turned out in the end, Dominiguez could not quite convert his slightly better position and settled for a draw after the Indian forcefully exchanged the pieces that mattered for white. The game lasted 60 moves.
Harikrishna was not able to do much even as he tried hard to break the defences of Delgado. Playing the white side of a Bogo Indian, the Indian secured an advantage in the middle game but could not impress much as Delgado defended quite well on both flanks.
Subsequent exchanges led to an evenly balanced endgame with two rooks and four pawns for both players on the king side and though Harikrishna tried his best, Delgado's defence was too good. After further exchange of Bishops the players arrived at 'dead-draw' in chess terminology and there was no point in continuing after 50 moves.
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