Things looked bleak for Team India deep into the middlegame. Hari was simply minus, and Sethu was battling tooth and nail for equality. Adhiban's position looked unbalanced but equal. The chips were down, and a defeat looked imminent. But then, fate showed us a surprising turnaround. Hari fought back to a draw. Sethu held as well. Adhiban, who was keeping things tricky for his opponent, found a breakthrough when his opponent blundered. India has created history already!

Baku 06: A surprising turnaround!

It is not about how hard you can hit; it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward! —Rocky Balboa

What an amazing turnaround by Team India! Deep into the middlegame, Team India looked to be in grave trouble. Anish Giri was a pawn ahead, and was clearly pressing against Harikrishna. Adhiban had an unclear position on the second board against Erwin L'Ami -- dynamically equal, perhaps. Vidit had settled for an early draw with the white pieces against Leok Van Wely. Sethuraman was battling with his back to the wall with black against Benjamin Bok.

Things looked bleak. But it is not about how hard you can hit. It is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That is how winning is done!

Vidit, the man on fire with 5.0/5, settled for a relatively quick draw with white. [Photo; D. Lada]

Sethurman landed safely! [Photo: M. Emelianova]

[Event "42nd Olympiad Baku 2016 Open"]

[Site "Baku"]

[Date "2016.09.08"]

[Round "6.4"]

[White "Bok, Benjamin"]

[Black "Sethuraman, S P."]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[ECO "B91"]

[WhiteElo "2592"]

[BlackElo "2640"]

[Annotator "ChessBase"]

[PlyCount "65"]

[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

[EventCountry "AZE"]

[Source "ChessBase"]

[WhiteTeam "Netherlands"]

[BlackTeam "India"]

[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]

[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} d6 {10} 3. d4 {0} cxd4 {5} 4. Nxd4 {0} Nf6 {6} 5.

Nc3 {0} a6 {4} 6. g3 {0} e5 {38} 7. Nde2 {4} Be7 {31} 8. Bg2 {8} O-O {159} 9.

O-O {7} Be6 {62} 10. a4 {23} Qc8 {90} 11. b3 {633} Rd8 {1324} 12. Ba3 {547} Bf8

{656} 13. Qd2 {223} Nbd7 {106} 14. Rfd1 {654} Nc5 {147} 15. a5 {77} Qc7 {547}

16. Qe3 {152} Rac8 {92} 17. h3 {188} Re8 {807} 18. Bb2 {464} h6 {98} 19. g4 {

276} b5 {404} 20. axb6 {85} Qxb6 {7} 21. Ng3 {564} a5 {335} 22. Bc1 {73} Ra8 {

514} 23. Bd2 {138} Qc6 {5} 24. Nf5 {563} Ncd7 {242} 25. Be1 {121} Nb6 {16} 26.

Qd3 {347} a4 {75} 27. bxa4 {277} Nxa4 {72} 28. Qb5 {175} Qxb5 {44} 29. Nxb5 {2}

Nb2 {11} 30. Rdb1 {191} Nc4 {43} 31. Nc7 {207} Rxa1 {5} 32. Rxa1 {2} Rc8 {111}

33. Ra7 {21} 1/2-1/2

Harikrishna was clearly minus against Giri but he kept fighting. He slowly back to equality. [Photo: M. Emelianova]

[Event "42nd Olympiad Baku 2016 Open"]

[Site "Baku"]

[Date "2016.09.08"]

[Round "6.1"]

[White "Harikrishna, P."]

[Black "Giri, Anish"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[ECO "B90"]

[WhiteElo "2752"]

[BlackElo "2755"]

[Annotator "ChessBase"]

[PlyCount "97"]

[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

[EventCountry "AZE"]

[Source "ChessBase"]

[WhiteTeam "India"]

[BlackTeam "Netherlands"]

[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]

[BlackTeamCountry "NED"]

[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} d6 {0} 3. d4 {0} cxd4 {0} 4. Nxd4 {0} Nf6 {0} 5.

Nc3 {0} a6 {0} 6. h3 {2} e5 {62} 7. Nde2 {6} h5 {7} 8. g3 {15} Be6 {14} 9. Bg2

{40} b5 {21} 10. Bg5 {489} Nbd7 {347} 11. Nd5 {126} Bxd5 {80} 12. exd5 {8} Be7

{10} 13. a4 {203} b4 {213} 14. O-O {214} O-O {33} 15. Re1 {487} Rb8 {156} 16.

Nc1 {117} Nc5 {105} 17. Be3 {705} h4 {139} 18. g4 {702} Nfd7 {77} 19. Qd2 {77}

f5 {142} 20. gxf5 {134} Rxf5 {29} 21. Nd3 {2} Bg5 {169} 22. f4 {246} exf4 {388}

23. Nxf4 {5} Qf6 {160} 24. Ne6 {467} Bxe3+ {19} 25. Qxe3 {72} Qxb2 {104} 26.

Qd4 {553} Qxd4+ {550} 27. Nxd4 {8} Rf4 {400} 28. Nc6 {8} Rbf8 {569} 29. Reb1 {

115} g5 {369} 30. a5 {110} g4 {367} 31. hxg4 {117} b3 {507} 32. cxb3 {2} Rxg4 {

8} 33. Kh1 {114} Rg3 {84} 34. Rf1 {240} h3 {289} 35. Rxf8+ {20} Nxf8 {65} 36.

Bf1 {39} Rxb3 {240} 37. Kh2 {174} Ng6 {85} 38. Bxh3 {14} Nf4 {118} 39. Be6+ {

218} Kg7 {178} 40. Rg1+ {0} Kf6 {0} 41. Rf1 {521} Ncd3 {590} 42. Bc8 {28} Kg5 {

244} 43. Nd4 {560} Rb8 {1100} 44. Bxa6 {64} Rh8+ {258} 45. Kg1 {6} Nh3+ {4} 46.

Kg2 {28} Nhf4+ {6} 47. Kg1 {7} Nh3+ {20} 48. Kg2 {6} Nhf4+ {27} 49. Kg1 {8}

1/2-1/2

Black to play

Erwin L'Ami had a dynamically balanced position with the white pieces. But then, in the given position, he blundered with 36.Rd1?? Adhiban Baskaran didn't think twice before playing...?

[Event "42nd Olympiad Baku 2016 Open"]

[Site "Baku"]

[Date "2016.09.08"]

[Round "6.2"]

[White "L'Ami, Erwin"]

[Black "Adhiban, B."]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "E33"]

[WhiteElo "2611"]

[BlackElo "2671"]

[Annotator "ChessBase"]

[PlyCount "132"]

[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

[EventCountry "AZE"]

[Source "ChessBase"]

[WhiteTeam "Netherlands"]

[BlackTeam "India"]

[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]

[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nc3 {0} Bb4 {0} 4. Qc2 {17} Nc6 {0} 5.

Nf3 {109} d6 {0} 6. Bd2 {114} Qe7 {46} 7. a3 {144} Bxc3 {8} 8. Bxc3 {7} a5 {4}

9. e3 {243} O-O {35} 10. Bd3 {211} h6 {433} 11. O-O {137} e5 {232} 12. d5 {619}

Nb8 {63} 13. Nd2 {42} a4 {274} 14. f4 {314} Nbd7 {30} 15. Rae1 {295} Re8 {45}

16. Bf5 {515} c6 {997} 17. dxc6 {603} bxc6 {1} 18. Ne4 {26} Nxe4 {330} 19. Bxe4

{31} Ra6 {313} 20. Rd1 {156} Nf6 {466} 21. Bf3 {356} c5 {188} 22. Rxd6 {186}

Rxd6 {697} 23. fxe5 {9} Rd7 {164} 24. exf6 {81} Qxe3+ {2} 25. Kh1 {239} Qd3 {

294} 26. Qxd3 {225} Rxd3 {1} 27. fxg7 {17} Ba6 {532} 28. Bc6 {285} Re2 {309}

29. Bd5 {139} Re7 {128} 30. Bf6 {108} Re8 {64} 31. Rc1 {151} Re2 {497} 32. Kg1

{49} Red2 {116} 33. Bf3 {92} Re3 {65} 34. Bc3 {107} Rd6 {46} 35. Bd5 {47} Re7 {

34} 36. Rd1 {194} Bxc4 {4} 37. Bf3 {181} Rxd1+ {2} 38. Bxd1 {8} Bb5 {3} 39. Bf3

{301} Re6 {33} 40. Kf2 {0} Bc6 {0} 41. Bg4 {664} Rd6 {27} 42. Be5 {358} Rd2+ {

30} 43. Ke3 {6} Rxg2 {7} 44. h3 {17} h5 {390} 45. Bd1 {202} h4 {166} 46. Kf4 {

255} Bd7 {70} 47. Bf3 {104} Rg1 {130} 48. Bf6 {41} Rf1 {162} 49. Ke3 {23} Bxh3

{139} 50. Bxh4 {21} Kxg7 {6} 51. Bc6 {76} Rb1 {29} 52. Bxa4 {18} Rxb2 {39} 53.

Be7 {28} c4 {12} 54. Bb4 {31} Kg6 {31} 55. Kd4 {79} Be6 {88} 56. Kc3 {286} Ra2

{12} 57. Bc6 {47} f5 {34} 58. a4 {33} f4 {137} 59. a5 {15} Kf5 {13} 60. Bb7 {

145} Ke5 {34} 61. a6 {5} Bd5 {22} 62. Bc5 {2} f3 {56} 63. Bd4+ {37} Kd6 {37}

64. Bxd5 {37} Kxd5 {4} 65. a7 {4} Kc6 {66} 66. Kxc4 {19} Kb7 {3} 0-1

Whaaa!? 36.Rd1?? Adhiban seized his chance and brought home the point. [Photo: D. Llada]

The Dutch resign. India has created history today -- for the first time ever, India is leading the chess olympiad! [Photo: M. Emelianova]

Ranking after Round 06:

g. Snr Team Team Anz + = - Wtg1 Wtg2 Wtg3 Wtg4 1 9 India IND 6 6 0 0 12 116,0 19,0 40,00 2 2 United States of America USA 6 5 1 0 11 114,0 18,0 41,00 3 11 Netherlands NED 6 5 0 1 10 117,0 18,0 44,00 4 17 Czech Republic CZE 6 4 2 0 10 114,0 16,5 45,00 5 20 Georgia GEO 6 4 2 0 10 111,5 17,0 42,00 6 3 China CHN 6 5 0 1 10 110,5 17,5 40,00 7 5 Ukraine UKR 6 5 0 1 10 110,5 16,5 45,00 8 25 Canada CAN 6 5 0 1 10 107,0 19,0 38,00 9 1 Russia RUS 6 5 0 1 10 102,0 18,5 37,00 10 21 Latvia LAT 6 5 0 1 10 96,0 15,5 40,00

Pairings for Round 07:

Video Interviews:

Adhiban speaks about the crucial moments in the game

Press Conference of Team India

Women's Section

Harika finally scored a win, against Latvia's `Finance Minister WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola.

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]

[Site "chess24.com"]

[Date "2016.09.08"]

[Round "6.1"]

[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]

[Black "Reizniece-Ozola, Dana"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteElo "2542"]

[BlackElo "2243"]

[PlyCount "51"]

[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

[WhiteTeam "India"]

[BlackTeam "Latvia"]

[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]

[BlackTeamCountry "LAT"]

[WhiteClock "0:35:38"]

[BlackClock "0:04:00"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. c3 Nf6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O c5 7. h3 Qc7 8. Re1 e5

9. Be3 d5 10. dxe5 Nxe4 11. c4 f5 12. cxd5 Bxe5 13. Nxe5 Qxe5 14. Nd2 Nd7 15.

Qc2 f4 16. Nxe4 fxe3 17. Rxe3 Qg7 18. Rae1 Ne5 19. Nxc5 Nxd3 20. Nxd3 Bf5 21.

Qb3 Bxd3 22. Rxd3 Rad8 23. d6+ Kh8 24. Re7 Qf6 25. Rf3 Qxd6 26. Qc3+ 1-0

IM Tania Sachdev suffered her second consecutive defeat after accepting a piece sacrifice by her opponent. [Photo: M. Emeleniova]

White to play

Black sacrificed a piece and now, Tania now has to find the most accurate way to continue. Can you find it?

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]

[Site "chess24.com"]

[Date "2016.09.08"]

[Round "6.3"]

[White "Tania, Sachdev"]

[Black "Berzina, Ilze"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteElo "2402"]

[BlackElo "2241"]

[PlyCount "78"]

[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

[WhiteTeam "India"]

[BlackTeam "Latvia"]

[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]

[BlackTeamCountry "LAT"]

[WhiteClock "0:01:00"]

[BlackClock "0:01:35"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8.

Ne5 a5 9. e3 h6 10. Be2 e6 11. O-O Bb4 12. f3 O-O 13. e4 Bh7 14. Be3 Nfd7 15.

Nd3 Bd6 16. Qb3 Qe7 17. Rfd1 Rfd8 18. Rac1 Kh8 19. Nf2 Bc7 20. Nd3 Bd6 21. Bf1

Rac8 22. d5 c5 23. dxe6 c4 24. Qb5 fxe6 25. e5 Bc7 26. Nf2 Nd5 27. Nxd5 exd5

28. f4 Nxe5 29. fxe5 (29. Bc5) 29... Qxe5 30. Ng4 Qe6 31. h3 h5 32. Bg5 hxg4

33. Bxd8 Rxd8 34. Re1 Be4 35. Qxb7 Qd6 36. Rxe4 dxe4 37. Qxe4 Rf8 38. g3 Qxg3+

39. Bg2 Qh2# 0-1

WGM Soumya Swaminathan squeezed her opponent to extract a point back foirfor India. [Photo; G. Sudhakaran]

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]

[Site "chess24.com"]

[Date "2016.09.08"]

[Round "6.4"]

[White "Erneste, Inguna"]

[Black "Soumya, Swaminathan"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteElo "2178"]

[BlackElo "2379"]

[PlyCount "162"]

[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

[WhiteTeam "Latvia"]

[BlackTeam "India"]

[WhiteTeamCountry "LAT"]

[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

[WhiteClock "0:02:16"]

[BlackClock "0:03:54"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8.

O-O O-O 9. f4 a5 10. a4 Nb4 11. Kh1 Bd7 12. Bf3 Bc6 13. Qe2 Qc7 14. fxe5 dxe5

15. Bg5 Rac8 16. Rac1 h6 17. Be3 b6 18. Qf2 Bd8 19. Qg3 Kh7 20. Rf2 Be7 21. Rd2

Rfd8 22. Rxd8 Bxd8 23. Qf2 Bd7 24. Qe2 Be6 25. Nd2 Qd7 26. Bf2 Ng4 27. Bxg4

Bxg4 28. Nf3 Qe6 29. Nd1 Bh5 30. c3 Nc6 31. Ra1 Bg6 32. Bg3 Be7 33. Nf2 Rd8 34.

Qb5 Bc5 35. Re1 Qd7 36. h3 Bh5 37. Rd1 Qe6 38. Rxd8 Bxf3 39. Kh2 Nxd8 40. gxf3

Qf6 41. Qe2 Nc6 42. Nd3 Bd6 43. Bf2 Bc7 44. Be3 Qe6 45. Qc2 g6 46. Nc1 f5 47.

Qb3 Qxb3 48. Nxb3 Kg7 49. Nd2 Nb8 50. Nc4 Nd7 51. b4 f4 52. Bf2 Kf6 53. Kg2 Ke7

54. Kf1 Kd8 55. Ke2 Kc8 56. Kd3 Kb7 57. Nd2 Nf6 58. Kc4 Kc6 59. Nf1 g5 60. Nh2

h5 61. bxa5 bxa5 62. Bc5 Bd8 63. Bf8 Nd7 64. Bg7 Bf6 65. Bh6 Nc5 66. Nf1 Nxa4

67. Kb3 Nb6 68. Nd2 a4+ 69. Ka2 Kb5 70. Bf8 Nc4 71. Nf1 Bd8 72. Bh6 Ne3 73. Nd2

Nd1 74. Bg7 Bc7 75. Bf6 Nxc3+ 76. Ka1 Ne2 77. Bxg5 Ng1 78. h4 Ba5 79. Nb1 Nxf3

80. Bf6 Bb4 81. Ka2 Kc4 0-1

IM Padmini Rout had to sweat it out hard to save the game and win the match for India. [Photo: M. Emeleniova]

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]

[Site "chess24.com"]

[Date "2016.09.08"]

[Round "6.2"]

[White "Rogule, Laura"]

[Black "Padmini, Rout"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[WhiteElo "2306"]

[BlackElo "2408"]

[PlyCount "279"]

[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

[WhiteTeam "Latvia"]

[BlackTeam "India"]

[WhiteTeamCountry "LAT"]

[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

[WhiteClock "0:04:24"]

[BlackClock "0:00:49"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nb6 7. d3 Be7 8. a3

O-O 9. Nc3 Be6 10. b4 f6 11. Bb2 a5 12. b5 Nd4 13. Nd2 Rb8 14. e3 Nf5 15. Qc2

Qd7 16. Rfd1 Nh6 17. Nb3 a4 18. Na5 Ra8 19. Nc4 Nd5 20. Rab1 Nxc3 21. Bxc3 Bd5

22. Bb4 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Bxb4 24. Rxb4 Nf7 25. h4 Rfd8 26. d4 g5 27. Nb2 Qd5+ 28.

e4 Qe6 29. d5 Qd7 30. h5 Nd6 31. Qe2 b6 32. Rc1 Ra7 33. Rc6 f5 34. exf5 Nxf5

35. Qxe5 Qxd5+ 36. Qxd5+ Rxd5 37. Rxa4 Rxa4 38. Nxa4 Rd7 39. Nc3 Ne7 40. Rc4

Kf7 41. Kf3 h6 42. Ke4 Ke6 43. f4 gxf4 44. gxf4 Nf5 45. Rc6+ Nd6+ 46. Kf3 Kf7

47. Kg4 Ke8 48. a4 Rg7+ 49. Kf3 Nf5 50. Kf2 Rd7 51. Rf6 Ng7 52. Rxh6 Rd4 53.

Ne2 Rxa4 54. Rh8+ Kf7 55. h6 Nh5 56. Rc8 Kg6 57. Rxc7 Kxh6 58. Rc6+ Kg7 59. Kf3

Nf6 60. Rxb6 Ra3+ 61. Kf2 Ne4+ 62. Kg2 Kf7 63. Nd4 Rg3+ 64. Kh2 Rd3 65. Ne6 Nd6

66. Nc5 Rd5 67. Nb7 Nc4 68. Rc6 Rxb5 69. Nc5 Nd6 70. Kh3 Nf5 71. Ne4 Ra5 72.

Kg4 Ne3+ 73. Kf3 Nf5 74. Ng5+ Ke7 75. Kg4 Ne3+ 76. Kf3 Nf5 77. Rc7+ Kd6 78. Rb7

Ra3+ 79. Kg4 Ne3+ 80. Kh5 Ra4 81. Rf7 Ra5 82. Kg6 Ng2 83. Ne4+ Kc6 84. Rf6+ Kc7

85. Ng5 Kd7 86. Rf7+ Kc6 87. Nf3 Kd6 88. f5 Ra3 89. Ng5 Nh4+ 90. Kh5 Nxf5 91.

Rxf5 Ra1 92. Kg6 Rb1 93. Kf6 Kc6 94. Ke7 Rb7+ 95. Ke6 Rb1 96. Nf3 Rh1 97. Nd4+

Kc7 98. Kd5 Kb6 99. Rf6+ Kb7 100. Kc5 Rc1+ 101. Kd6 Rd1 102. Kd5 Rh1 103. Rf2

Kc7 104. Ne6+ Kd7 105. Rf7+ Ke8 106. Rg7 Rd1+ 107. Nd4 Ra1 108. Kd6 Rd1 109.

Ke5 Re1+ 110. Kf6 Rf1+ 111. Nf5 Kd8 112. Rh7 Kc8 113. Ke6 Re1+ 114. Kd5 Rd1+

115. Nd4 Kd8 116. Ke5 Kc8 117. Ne6 Re1+ 118. Kd6 Rd1+ 119. Kc6 Rc1+ 120. Nc5

Kd8 121. Rg7 Ke8 122. Rb7 Kf8 123. Kd6 Rd1+ 124. Ke5 Re1+ 125. Ne4 Ke8 126. Kd5

Kd8 127. Kd6 Rd1+ 128. Kc6 Rc1+ 129. Kd6 Rd1+ 130. Ke6 Re1 131. Rb4 Rd1 132.

Nf6 Re1+ 133. Kd6 Rd1+ 134. Nd5 Ke8 135. Rf4 Rd2 136. Rf1 Rd3 137. Ke6 Rd2 138.

Re1 Kf8 139. Ne7 Ra2 140. Rf1+ 1/2-1/2

Pairings for Round 07:

Games in PGN for Open and Women

Other Pairings

Official Website

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