9/20/2024 – India suffered their first match defeat in either section of the Olympiad in Thursday's eighth round, as the women's squad was beaten by Poland, the third seeds in the event. Wins by Alina Kashlinskaya (pictured) and Monika Socko allowed the Polish team to catch up with India in the standings. They are now tied for first place with Kazakhstan, who edged out France by a 2½-1½ score. Three teams - Ukraine, United States, and Armenia - are just 1 match point behind the leading trio as the competition heats up with only three rounds to go. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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India, Poland and Kazakhstan share the lead
India's dominance in the Women's Olympiad came to a halt in round 8, as Poland secured a 2½-1½ victory over the previously undefeated Indian team on Thursday. Wins by Alina Kashlinskaya and Monika Socko on the top two boards secured Poland's win, despite Divya Deshmukh defeating Aleksandra Maltsevskaya. The game on board 4 saw Vantika Agrawal losing a clear advantage in a single move, handing India their first defeat in the event.
Poland's triumph allowed them to join the top-seeded Indian team in the lead, while Kazakhstan also caught up with the co-leaders. Kazakhstan, with wins by Bibisara Assaubayeva and Alua Nurman (both with white), defeated France by the narrowest of margins. Kazakhstan have now won all their matches except their round-5 clash against India.
The competition for the top spots is now wide open, with three teams standing just 1 point behind the co-leaders: Ukraine, the United States, and Armenia. All three teams won their respective matches on Thursday, with Armenia's 3½-½ victory over Mongolia particularly impressive, given how strong the Mongolian squad had been at the start of the event.
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As India and Kazakhstan already faced each other in round 5, the top pairing for round 9 is Poland v. Kazakhstan, which could feature an exciting clash between two in-form players -Kashlinskaya and Assaubayeva - on the top board. India will face the United States, while Ukraine will take on Armenia.
Alice Lee and Carissa Yip (standing behind) both won on Thursday for the United States and have been performing remarkably well in Budapest | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
Poland 2½-1½ India
This key clash could have easily ended with a 2-2 draw, had Vantika Agrawal not blundered in the following position while playing white against Alicja Sliwicka.
Vantika v. Sliwicka
Despite only being a pawn up, White is totally winning here, as these positions with major pieces and opposite-coloured bishop clearly favour the side with the safer king.
Here the straightforward 56.Re7, threatening mate on g7, wins for White - she should not fear 56...c5+, since after 57.Kg1 Qf8 White wins with 58.Qe4 (diagram), while after the desperate 56...Rf1+ 57.Kxf1 Qh1+, the king can escape the potential perpetual check.
Analysis diagram
Instead, Vantika's 56.Qe4 allowed Sliwicka to escape with 56...Qxa5.
After 57.Bc2, Black can force the queen swap with 57...Qd5
After 57.Qe8+ Rf8 58.Qg6, as seen in the game, Black has 58...Qf5, and the queens left the board in the next turn
The game continued until move 79, when a draw was finally agreed.
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A quick post-mortem in Vantika v. Sliwicka | Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
Kazakhstan 2½-1½ France
Similarly to the aforementioned game in the India v. Poland match, France's Pauline Guichard misplayed a position with a queen, a rook and a minor piece per side. However, in this case, Guichard's mistake allowed Kazakhstan's Alua Nurman to play a winning combination.
Nurman v. Guichard
41...Qc4 was a decisive mistake (41...Kh7 or 41...Rc8 were correct), as it allowed 42.Qd2+ Kh7 43.Ng5+ Kh8 44.Qd8+ Ng8 and now 45.Qe8, a subtle move which creates deadly threats with the queen and knight tandem.
45...Qc5+ 46.Kh1 Qe7 47.Qxh5+ Nh6 48.Qg6 and Black resigned.
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