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India's quest for a perfect 22/22 final score remains alive at the Women's Chess Olympiad. The top seeds secured their seventh consecutive win on Wednesday, defeating second-seeded Georgia by a 3-1 score. Vaishali Rameshbabu and Vantika Agrawal clinched the decisive points for India, both with the black pieces. If India achieve the perfect score, they will match Russia's remarkable performance at the 2010 Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk.
India now hold a 2-point lead over the rest of the field, as Poland, one of their closest rivals, only managed a 2-2 draw against Ukraine. Alina Kashlinskaya's victory over Yuliia Osmak briefly put Poland ahead, but Nataliya Buksa equalised for Ukraine by outplaying Oliwia Kiolbasa in a tense knight endgame.
Poland's draw allowed Kazakhstan and France to catch them in the standings. Kazakhstan defeated Azerbaijan 3-1, while France narrowly overcame Spain 2½-1½ in hard-fought matches that kept them both within striking distance of the leaders.
India's next challenge will be a high-stakes encounter against third-seeded Poland in round 8, while Kazakhstan and France will face each other on the second board. The race for gold is intensifying in Budapest as the competition reaches its final stages.
Kazakhstan's Meruert Kamalidenova (left) defeated Azerbaijan's Ulviyya Fataliyeva with the white pieces | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
France's Pauline Guichard (right) got the better of Spain's Ann Matnadze in a 75-move encounter | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Vantika Agrawal grabbed her fourth consecutive victory in round 7, as she beat Bela Khotenashvili (rated 52 points higher than the Indian IM) with the black pieces. Currently, Vantika and Divya Deshmukh have the highest TPRs for the Indian team, each with an impressive 2561 mark.
In the game, Khotenashvili failed to realise that she needed to get rid of the strong black pair of knights on move 26.
Black has all the positional trumps in this position, with a better pawn structure - White has weaknesses on a4 and c3 - and the more active minor pieces. Thus, aiming to simplify the position with 26.Bg3 was the way to go for the Georgian representative.
Both contenders were in deep time trouble, though, and Khotenashvili, with 2 minutes on her clock, went for 26.g3 instead, giving Vantika a couple of tempi to activate her rooks while White struggled to find coordination.
This is how the position looked once the time control was reached.
White has given up a pawn for nothing, while the black rooks and knights continue to pose threats in the position. Vantika needed only six more moves to force her opponent's resignation.
Vantika Agrawal | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
Soon after winning the Women's Grand Prix inaugural tournament in Tbilisi, Alina Kashlinskaya continues to show good form in the Olympiad. Playing on the top board for the third-seeded team, she has so far scored an undefeated 4/6 for a 2520 Tournament Performance Rating.
Facing Ukraine's Yuliia Osmak, Kashlinskaya emerged on top out of a chaotic sequence filled with tactical ideas.
32.Nd7 was the losing mistake, leaving the rook pinned on f5 and thus allowing Black to play a tactical trick that gave her a clear advantage. Kashlinskaya found 32...Nf3+ 33.Kh3 Nxh4, and White has nothing better than 34.Kxh4 - note that the white queen is overloaded defending the rook and the knight at the same time.
Now 34...g6, as played in the game, is the most precise continuation - at this point, Kashlinskaya had 5 minutes to Osmak's 30 seconds to reach the time control.
35.Nxf6+ Kh8 36.Nd5 Qxf4 is the winning idea. After 37.Qxf4 g5+, Black will emerge with an extra exchange in a simple enough endgame.
Three moves later, Osmak resigned.
Alina Kashlinskaya | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 190,5 | |
| 2 | Poland | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 159 | |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 152,5 | |
| 4 | France | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 142 | |
| 5 | United States of America | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 168,5 | |
| 6 | Armenia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 158 | |
| 7 | Georgia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 152 | |
| 8 | Germany | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 151,5 | |
| 9 | Hungary | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 146 | |
| 10 | Ukraine | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 143 | |
| 11 | Uzbekistan | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 140 | |
| 12 | Mongolia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 137,5 | |
| 13 | Bulgaria | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 135 | |
| 14 | Netherlands | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 119 | |
| 15 | China | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 181,5 | |
| 16 | Switzerland | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 138,5 | |
| 17 | Vietnam | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 138 | |
| 18 | Spain | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 137 | |
| 19 | Azerbaijan | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 132 | |
| 20 | Turkiye | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 128,5 |
| No. | Team | Pts. | MP | : | MP | Pts. | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | 20½ | 12 | : | 14 | 21½ | India |
| 2 | Hungary *) | 21½ | 11 | : | 11 | 18 | Ukraine |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 20½ | 12 | : | 12 | 20 | France |
| 4 | Georgia | 18 | 11 | : | 11 | 19 | Bulgaria |
| 5 | Uzbekistan | 18 | 11 | : | 11 | 20½ | United States of America |
| 6 | Netherlands | 18 | 11 | : | 11 | 20 | Germany |
| 7 | Armenia | 20 | 11 | : | 11 | 18 | Mongolia |
| 8 | Slovenia | 17½ | 10 | : | 10 | 22½ | China |
| 9 | Azerbaijan | 17½ | 10 | : | 10 | 17 | Italy |
| 10 | Spain | 20 | 10 | : | 10 | 17½ | Slovakia |
| 11 | England | 19½ | 10 | : | 10 | 17½ | Lithuania |
| 12 | Turkiye | 18 | 10 | : | 10 | 19½ | Philippines |
| 13 | Malaysia | 18 | 10 | : | 10 | 20½ | Vietnam |
| 14 | Switzerland | 19½ | 10 | : | 10 | 20 | Turkmenistan |
| 15 | Peru | 18 | 9 | : | 9 | 17 | Serbia |
