India A and Vietnam continue to lead in Men's and Women's sections

Kolkata, 26th December, 2009

The India A men’s team inched closer to the Asian Team Chess Championship title at Town Hall on Saturday. Two more rounds remain in this premier team event organised by Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy and All Sport Management.

India A , who beat Iran convincingly 3.5-0.5 , now are in a commanding position with 10 match points. Their nearest rival Iran and Vietnam are 3 points behind on 7 points apiece.

With the exception of captain K Sasikiran, who was held to a draw by GM Elshan Moradiabadi , the rest Harikrishna , S S Ganguly and Parimarjan Negi won their games comfortably.

The Bangladesh Men’s team were overwhelmed by the all –GM Vietnam team who took their tally to 7 match points.

India B trounced minnows Nepal 4-0 to take their match score to 6 points just behind Vietnam and Iran .

In the women’s section, overnight leaders Vietnam continued to lead the field with a 3.5-0.5 win over Singapore to take their match score to 9 points. Behind them are the India A and the India B teams on 7 points each.

The strong India A team consisting of Eesha Karvade, Tania Sachdev Soumya Swaminathan and Kruttika Nadig faced little resistance from the inexperienced Lankan team and won 4-0.

The India B team beat Indonesia 3.5-0.5, wi th the only draw coming from WGM Mary Ann Gomes who played against Sukander Irine Karishma on the top board.

(source: http://www.asianteamchess09.com/news.asp, The Asian Team Championship 2009, Kolkata)