On the penultimate date of the maximum team competition of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in the Indian tourist town of Mahabalipuram, the 17-year-old Grand Master Nodirbek Abdusattorov -world rapid chess champion- defeated with black pieces on the first board the 16-year-old Indian prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju.
Earlier, another talented teenager, 16-year-old Indian GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, managed to smile against Uzbek GM Javokhir Sindarov, also of the same age.
They agreed peace in the clash between these two young squads, 18-year-old GM Nihal Sarin and 20-year-old Uzbek Nodirbek Yakubboev, as well as 29-year-old GM Adhiban Baskaran against 27-year-old GM Jahongir Vakhidov , the “veterans” of both groups.
In other results, Armenia beat Azerbaijan 3-1, as did the United States beat Turkey, Germany beat Israel, Cuba beat Portugal, Italy beat England, Kazakhstan beat Croatia, Mexico beat Lebanon and Paraguay beat Monaco.
Poland beat Sweden 2.5-1.5, as did Belgium against Romania, Chile against Tajikistan, Moldova against Norway, Poland against Sweden, Spain against the Czech Republic and Greece against Iceland.
Serbia divided 2-2 with the Netherlands and France and Lithuania, India 3 and Slovenia, Peru and Georgia, Brazil and Canada, Argentina and Singapore, as well as Ukraine and Hungary were also tied.
Denmark beat Colombia 3.5-0.5, and in this way Mongolia also triumphed over Zimbabwe, Bulgaria over New Zealand and Australia over Albania.
Behind the leader Uzbekistan (17) march Armenia (17), India 2 (16), India1 (16), United States (16), Netherlands (15), Spain (15), England (15), Germany (15) and Serbia (15), the top 10 in that order after the tiebreaker.
Cuba ranks 24th with 13 units leading Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Brazil (30), Chile (36), Peru (38), Argentina (42), Paraguay (48), Uruguay (57), Colombia (62) and Mexico (67), as the best in the area.
In the women’s section, Cuba is in seat 28 and then there are Chile (32), Peru (35), Argentina (41), Costa Rica (42), Venezuela (43) and Mexico (44).
The top 10 women’s teams are led by India (17) followed by Poland (16), Azerbaijan (16), Ukraine (16), Georgia (16), India 2 (15), USA (15), Kazakhstan (15). ), India 3 (15) and Slovenia (15).
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