BHUBANESWAR 20-Oct-2018
China maintained their two-point lead after holding hosts India to 2-2 draw in the fifth round of the 3rd Bilateral Chess Summit here at International Chess Hall in KiiT University today. After completion of fifth round, China were well-placed with a total of 11 points against nine by India.
In the fifth round, GM Narayanan Srinath and GM Xu Yinglun posted wins for India and China respectively, while the other two games ended in draws. On the top board, former U-20 World Champion GM Lu Shanglei beat Indian GM Aravind Chithambaram on 46th move.
The match between Indian GM Aryan Chopra and his Chinesse counterpart Xu Xiangyu was a Sicilian Najdrof, English attack variation, where the home work of the Chinese GM gave him some advantage. Nevertheless, Aryan played coolly and after exchange of Queens, centralised his King. With a timely pawn break, Aryan forced a drawn Rook and pawn ending to share a valuable half points.
On the third board, Indian GM Murali Karthikeyan put his faith on Nimzo-Indian Defence against Bai Jinshi`s classical system. After early exchange of Queens, Jinshi appeared to have upper hand. However, Murali played logically and solidly to equalise. After a long fought battle of five hours both the players had one minor piece each without any pawn and drew their game.
The fourth board was the game of round, where GM Srinath Narayan brilliantly accounted for Chinese GM Xu Yinglun in a Sicilian game, which was full of fire works. The Chinese GM resigned on the 36th move.
RESULTS (Round-5): India drew with China 2-2
Board-1: GM Lu Shanglei (w) beat GM Aravindh Chitahmbaram
Board-2: GM Xu Xiangyu drew with GM Aryan Chopra (w)
Board-3: GM Bai Jinshi (w) drew with GM Karthikeyan Murali
Board-4: GM Xu Yinglun lost to GM Narayanan Srinath (w)
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PHOTO: Indian GM Narayanan Srinath (Left) in action against his Chinese counterpart GM Xu Yinglun in Bhubaneswar on October 20, 2018.
