Gopal hands India surprise victory

 
Grandmaster GN Gopal scored a surprise victory against Abdel Razek Khaled just when a draw looked inevitable to guide India to an improbable 2.5-1.5 win after the other three games had ended in a draw.

The United States continued with their fine run and emerged as the sole leader on 12 points following a 2.5-1.5 victory over Greece.  For the US, yet again, Hikaru Nakamura scored an important victory on the top board against Vasilios Kotronias.

However, it turned out to be a bad day for the Israeli team as they lost to bottom placed Turkey by a 1.5-2.5 margin. In other games of the day, Russia played out a 2-2 draw with Armenia while Azerbaijan drubbed Brazil 3.5-0.5.

US is on the top with 12 points, followed by Russia on 11. Azerbaijan and India share the third spot on nine points with two more rounds to go. Armenia is sole fifth on eight points, a full point adrift of Israel who have a point more than Greece. Turkey and Egypt share the eighth spot on three points each and Brazil is now occupies the last spot with just two points.

Standings (round VII): United States (12 points) 1; Russia (11) 2; Azerbaijan 3, India (9 each) 3.

Results: Russia drew Armenia 2-2; Egypt lt to India 1.5-2.5 (Adly Ahmed drew Krishnan Sasikiran; P Harikrishna drew Amin Bassem; Abdel Razik Khaled lt to GN Gopal; B Adhiban drew Sarwat Walaa); Israel lt to Turkey 1.5-2.5; Brazil lt to Azerbaijan 0.5-3.5; Greecek lt to United Stated 1.5-2.5.