Top seeds Russia overcame 13th seed Slovakia shedding half a point in the top board in the first round of the TATA 14th IBCA Chess Olympiad for the Blind 2012 at Hotel Le Royal Meridien, Chennai here today.
Russian International Master Yuri Meshkov was held to a draw, with boards two, three and four fetching them full points. Russia along with Poland, Spain, Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Slovenia, India “A”, United Kingdom and Columbia lead with two match points.
Higher seeded teams went through the first round without any fuss, while India which fielded two teams had a mixed day. India “A” team seeded ninth, defeated France 3-1, where Swapnil Shah lost on the top board, with India won on the next three boards.
India B - Serbia
India “B” team went down to Serbia 1-3, with two draws on the first and the third boards, while Darshan Patel and Gaurav Gadodia lost on the second and fourth boards with black pieces.
Results (Round 1):
Russia beat Slovakia 3.5-0.5, Turkey lost to Poland 0-4, Spain beat Italy 4-0, Sweden lost to Ukraine 1-3, India “B” lost to Serbia 1-3 (Kakade Atul drew with Dimic Pavle, Patel Darshan lost to Jandric Damjan, Patil Shirish drew with Avram Sretko, Gaurav Gadodia lost to Avram Veso), Romania beat Croatia 3.5-0.5, Denmark lost to Slovenia 0.5-3.5, India “A” beat France 3-1 (Swapnil Shah lost to Deville Olivier, Kishan Gangolli beat Belazzoug Farid, Darpan Inani beat Le Moy Patrick, Makwana Ashvin K beat Peignien Laurent), United Kingdom beat The Netherlands 4-0, South Africa lost to Columbia 1.5-2.5
Spain - Italy
Bulgarian team in the opening ceremony
