Surya Shekhar Ganguly becomes Grandmaster

Surya Shekhar Ganguly became India's eighth Grandmaster after an easy draw with Grandmaster Iosef Dorfman in the 12th round of the 35th Chess Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia, which also saw the 24th seeded Indian men's team hold 11th seeds France to a draw.

The Indian men drew all their boards to take their tally to 28 points.

The Indian eves scored an upset 2-1 victory over tenth seeds Germany to move to joint 10th poition on 21.5 points with two more rounds remaining.

Top seeds Russia, with 34.5 points, continued to dominate in the men's section and defeated Croatia 2.5-1.5 to maintain their two-point lead over nearest rivals Hungary.

Ninth seeds Armenia provided the shocker of the day as they defeated third seeds Ukraine 3-1 to jump to sole third position on 30 points.

Defending champions China eventually caught up with leaders Georgia in the women's section. Georgia suffered their second successive defeat, going down to Vietnam 1-2 while China drew 1.5-1.5 with Armenia.

Both China and Georgia have 25.5 points apiece and are closely followed by Russia on 25 points.

Ganguly achieved his third and final GM norm quite effortlessly. Playing white against Dorfman on the second board, after the Indian think-tank rested GM Pendyala Harikrishna, Ganguly played it safe with the white pieces and employed the Rossolimo variation against the Sicilian defence. The draw was agreed to in just 12 moves at Ganguly's behest when the position was just level.

"I am very happy and satisfied. I am now looking forward to join the 2600 ELO club. Obviously I will have to work harder and plan my events for that," Ganguly said.

Ganguly joins the elite group of seven Grandmasters in the country. They are Vishwanathan Anand, Dibyendu Barua, Pravin Thipsay, Abhijit Kunte, Krishnan Sasikiran, Pendyala Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy.

Highly rated GM Jonathan Speelman was all praise for young Ganguly, who had held him to a draw in the previous round.

"He is a potential super Grandmaster, very solid and sharp on the counter attack," said Speelman.

On the top board Sasikiran drew with Etienne Bacrot with black pieces. The Bayonet attack against Sasikiran's King's Indian defence did not yield much to Bacrot as he might have desired and the position was semi-closed when Bacrot proposed the draw in the middle game after just 25 moves.

After consulting with the team captain and trainer, GM Evgeny Vladimirov, Sasikiran accepted the proposal.

"It was the kind of position I like but white had a safe position and perhaps the team captain's decision was wise," Sasikiran said after the game.

Abhijit Kunte was also involved in a none-too-eventful battle against Andrei Sokolov. Playing black, he showcased his knowledge of the Italian game and went for an early pawn sacrifice variation that gave him ample counter play as the middle game surfaced.

Quickly realising that not all is well in his position, Sokolov, a former World championship candidate, opted for a safe path and went for equality. The game was over after just 14 moves.

Former national champion GM Pravin Thipsay was involved in a tactical game against Christian Bauer with white pieces but in the endgame the position fizzled out to a draw in 30 moves.

Russia rested Garry Kasparov but still proved good enough against Croatia. On the second board, GM Alexander Morozevich scored an emphatic victory over Ognjen Cvitan, using the Sicilian Sozin attack to perfection, in just 29 moves, while on the fourth board, GM Sergei Rublevski's coasted to a smooth victory in just 25 moves against Sulava Nenad.

Robert Zelcic, who beat Peter Svidler on the third board, and Zdenko Kozul, who drew with former World champion Alexander Khalifman on the top board, scored the points for Croatia.

The Indian women had a good day. On the top board, WGM S Vijayalakshmi misplayed a win against Kachiani- Gersinka Ketino, who played black. Playing intelligently in the middle game, Vijayalakshmi won a piece for effectively no counter play but a few blunders in the final stages of the game cost her dearly. In a picturesque finale, Ketino got the draw by stalemate on board in 124 moves.

On the second board, S Meenakshi drew WGM Elizabeth Paehtz while WIM Aarthie Ramaswamy defeated WGM Borulya Ekaterina to give India a good victory.

In the next round, the Indian men will play against Switzerland while the women will battle it out against the United States.

Earlier reports:
Round 11: India's medal hopes diminish
Round 10: England halt India's march
Round 9: Kunte strikes as India move to fifth position
Round 8: Sasikiran, Ganguly shine
Round 7: Thumping wins for Indian men and women
Round 6: Indian men win, women draw
Round 5: Bad day for India
Round 4: Indian teams back to winning ways
Round 3: Indian men falter against Russia
Round 2: India continue good showing at Chess Olympiad
Round 1: Indians off to a winning start at Chess Olympiad