Asian Games: Mixed day for Indians in chess

GUANGZHOU - Indian chess players Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Tania Sachdev lost their matches to higher ranked opponents but Harika Dronavalli won her match and is tied third after the fourth round in the individual section at the Asian Games here Sunday.

Ganguly, playing with black, lost to higher rated Le Quang Liem of Vietnam while his compatriot Sasikiran Krishnan was held to a draw by Filippov Anton of Uzbekistan in the fourth round.

Both the Indian Grandmasters started the day with wins against lower ranked opponents in the third round. Playing with white pieces, Sasikiran defeated Al-Modiahki Mohamad of Qatar while Ganguly beat Sadvakasov Darmen of Kazakhstan.

Ganguly and Sasikaran are now tied fourth on three points, along with six others.

In the women’s section, Tania and Harika are joint third with three points each after the fourth round.

With white pieces, Harika beat Dauletova Gulmira of Kazakhstan. Tania, also playing with white, was unlucky and lost to higher rated Chinese Zhao Xue.

Earlier in the day, both the girls, playing with black pieces, had tasted wins in the third round. Tania had beaten Nakhbayeva Guliskh of Kazakhstan while and Harika won against Muminova Nafisa of Uzbekistan.