The Indian team outclassed
their Israeli counterparts 29.5-18.5 in the India-Israel 2012 match, a curtain raiser to the world chess championship 2012 in Moscow.
Second
highest rated Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran paved
the way for his team’s victory scoring a massive 7.5 out of a possible eight on
the final day.
Winning
seven games in all, Sasikiran just conceded a single draw when he could not
force matters against Vitali Golod in the rapid game.
Higher ranked on all four
boards, the Indian victory was expected but the way it came might give reasons
for smile to world champion Viswanathan Anand who
plays the next match against Boris Gelfand of
Israel in May this year.
The
Indians had held a healthy lead in the opening round which they built on, on the final day
as well.
The day
started with Abhijeet Gupta striking
form against Ilia Smirin in the blindfold game that he won
without much ado.
Sasikiran also caused the
damage for the Israelis with a vital victory against Golod and by the time the
final round began the Indian victory was only a matter of time.
From
Israel’s perspective, Grandmaster Baron Tal was on the receiving end throughout
the match and went on to lose all 12 games that he played against Indians.
The
best Israeli player was Ilia Smirin who scored 8 points in all and was
especially effective in the last round where he scored 3.5/4. International
Master Gil Popliski scored 4.5 points while Vitali Golod ended up with six points
in all.
Sasikiran was by far the best
Indian as well as the best player in the meet scoring 9.5 points out of a
possible 12.
B Adhiban and
Abhijeet Gupta scored seven and half and six and half points respectively while
first day heroGopal lost
steam and ended up with six points in all.
Chairman
of Airports Authority of India Mr. V P Agrawal distributed the prizes in a
ceremony organized soon after the matches. The AAI sponsored the event.
Press
release by the Delhi Chess Association
