CHENNAI: Russia survived a few jitters at the closing stages before sealing a hat-trick of triumphs in the women’s section of the 41st Chess Olympiad in Norway. Their team pushed a higher-ranked China to second spot for the third straight time.
European women’s champion Valentina Gunina and former world women’s title-holder Alexandra Kosteniuk were the architects of the victory, winning individual gold on the second and third boards. Switching from Ukraine to Russia before the Olympiad, Kateryna Lagno helped the team immensely in the absence of Tatiana Kosintseva, a key player in the last two editions.
Lagno vindicated the faith of Russians on the top board by inflicting a rare defeat on Hou Yifan in their needle clash in the seventh round. Natalia Pogonina played the supporting role to perfection on the fifth board, winning four and drawing three.
Nine straight wins put Russia in a commanding position and it looked like it will be hard to stop them. The penultimate clash with Ukraine witnessed a lot of tension. Natalia Zhukova’s victory over Girya on the fourth board helped Ukraine inflict a first defeat on Russia. But they stayed in lead, thanks to Spain holding China. Russia put the issue beyond doubt defeating Bulgaria in the final round.
Intense training sessions before the start of the tournament, team spirit, quality coaches, and the full backing of the federation are the reasons for Russian women achieving tremendous success in team events. Having three reputed coaches like Sergei Rublevsky, Alexander Riazantsev and Evgeny Najer gave the team a cutting edge over rest of the teams.
China Second Best
Three-time world women’s champ Hou Yifan has been in the form of her life but one bad game against Russia proved costly. Yifan recovered to bag individual silver on the second board, but the first place continued to elude China. Ju Wenjun (8/11) on the second board and Guo Qi (6.5/8) on the fifth were the other best performers.
Bronze for Ukraine
Ukraine’s five victories in the last six rounds against strong teams fetched them bronze. Muzychuk sisters Anna and Mariya’s solid showing on the top two boards was the reason behind team’s resurgence.
Highlights
Georgia No 1 Nana Dzagnidze (8/9) achieved the highest performance rating (2719), besides upstaging Hou Yifan for the individual gold on the top board.
Natalia Zhukova’s (7.5/10) power-packed performance on the fourth board helped her to an individual gold, besides Ukraine winning the bronze.
Sarasadat Khadmalsharieh was unlucky to miss out on an individual medal after losing in the final round on the second board. However, the Iranian had the satisfaction of becoming the country’s latest IM, securing seven points in nine rounds.
