India won the gold medal after defeating England 3.5-0.5 and emerged victorious in the Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2008 in Turkey after their triumph in World Junior Championship, confirming the good performance started by IM Harika and GM Gupta a few weeks ago at the World Junior Championships.

The important game of the last round was between Russia and Azerbaijan. Vasif Durarbeyli defeated Oleg Yaksin on the second board, Anastasia Bodnaruk and Ilia Iljuishenok defeated Mammadov and Kazimova, but the 2,5:1,5 overall victory was not sufficient for the top seeds to win the gold medal since they were surprised by India who defeated England with 3.5-0.5.

Philippines defeated ISEM 3-1 to get the bronze medal. Despite the last round suprising draw with Zeytinoglu (1883), GM Wesley So was the key to Phillipines 3rd place. The young talent managed to win the gold medal at board 1 and to add yet another 15 ELO points to his rating in his chase for the 2650 barrier (after breaking the 2600 a month ago).

"The defeat to Turkey-A by 1.5-2.5 was a shocker, as we enjoyed good positions on all the four boards." - said coach R.B. Ramesh. Scoring eight victories including some big wins in the end, India won the World Youth Chess Olympiad for the second time in a row. The high point was India's huge 3.5-0.5 win against the top seeds Russia in the second round.

Two Indians got extra gold medals besides the team medals. They are Sethuraman and Shyam Sundar for best performances on the second and third boards. Only Adhiban had played in the previous gold medal winning team of 2007. The entire team, coach Ramesh and Trainer Mr. K. Visweswaran were presented flowers, garlands and sweets and the occasion was festive.

Ramesh said the success was a collective team effort. His gamble to play on with Adhiban after four successive defeats seemed risky but worked well. "He was playing well and blundered after winning a piece and also had some health problems." - said Ramesh.

Results: India 28.5, Russia 28.5, The Philippines 27, Azerbaijan 24.5, Armenia 24, Georgia 24

/ reports based on news from chessdom.com and Indian Chess Fed /

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