Armenia continues to lead 44th Chess Olympiad

New Delhi, Aug 5 (Prensa Latina) Armenia continues to lead the 44th Chess Olympiad being played in India after drawing 2-2 with the United States in the main duel of the seventh round of the open section.

The victories of the Armenians in what turned out to be the highlight of the day were for Grandmasters Gabriel Sargissian with white pieces over his American counterpart Fabiano Caruana and Robert Hovhannisyan with black pieces against Sam Shankland.

For the US team, Philippine GM Wesley So and Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez won against their counterparts Hrant Melkumyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, respectively.

In other matches of Friday’s lineup at the Four Points Sheraton Convention Center in Mahabalipuram, India 1 defeated India 3 3-1; France drew 2-2 with the Netherlands; Germany beat Serbia 2.5-1.5, Kazakhstan beat Spain and Brazil beat England. Cuba was defeated 3.5-0.5 by India’s second team and lost its unbeaten record in a fateful seventh round for the Caribbean country, which also saw the girls lose by the same score to Mongolia.

The first Indian women’s team is leading with 14 points followed by Ukraine in second place and Armenia in third, both with 12 points but tied on the Sonneborn-Berger coefficient.