Chess Olympiad | Viswanathan Anand, P Harikrishna, K Sasikiran continue winning streak

Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand is only getting better with time if we take into consideration his recent results in the past year. He continued that form as he along with compatriots, P Harikrishna, and K Sasikiran registered a comfortable win as India registered a 3.5-0.5 victory over Canada in the third round of the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia on Wednesday.

Anand was in fine form in the previous round after he forced GM Markus Ragger to back out in a knight endgame after 47 moves in his first game of the tournament during the 3.5-0.5 win over Austria. Meanwhile, Sasikiran, who came in place of GM G Adhiban, defeated Aman Hambleton to give India a 3-0 lead. On the third board, Vidit Gujarati managed to draw with Evgeny Bareev in a marathon contest.

In the women’s section, India were held to a 2-2 draw against Serbia. The women’s team had D Harika to thank as the Grandmaster registered a victory after five hours of play to beat Eric Jovana which saw India hold Serbia 2-2. After Koneru Humpy had given India the lead, Eesha Karavade and Padmini Rout fell to back-to-back defeats against Adela Velekic and Teodora Injac respectively. India, who were fifth seeds ahead of the tournament, was on the verge of suffering their first loss in the competition before Harika turned things around. They will go up against Poland in the next round of the tournament.