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Chess Olympiad:Gold for US, India 4th in open and 5th in women section
Chennai:The US won the gold medal on a better tie-break score over Ukraine while the top-seeded Russia won bronze at the 2016 World Chess Olympiad open category at Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
The gold medal in the women’s category went to China, Poland claimed silver while the bronze went to Ukraine. The ninth-seeded Indian open team secured a credible fourth position while the fifth seeded Indian eves stood fifth.
However the Indian team is not returning empty handed.
In the special rating categories, rewarding lower-rated teams that over performed, there were medals for India, Iran, the third team of Azerbaijan, Sudan and Chinese Taipei (Open section), as well as for Russia, Belarus, Malaysia, Syria and Indonesia, said an official statement.
The curtains came down on the Chess Olympiad on Tuesday after a gruelling 11 rounds.
On the final round in the open section, the US beat Canada while Ukraine and Russia humbled Slovenia and Italy respectively.
For India, it was a do or die round as it had an outside chance to figure in the medal list subject to two conditions.
First, they had to win their match against Norway while Russia had to lose against Italy. Both didn’t happen as India drew with Norway and Russia won against Italy.
India threw away even its outside chance early in the match when Grandmaster (GM) S.P. Sethuraman turned adventurous on the 16th move, only to give up his bishop for a pawn with a hope of equalising the piece position a couple of moves later.
Sethuraman’s opponent saw through the move early enough to retain the piece advantage and forced the Indian to resign.
It was a costly loss for India as they had to win the match to stay in contention for a chance to win the bronze medal.
Expecting wins from other Indian players was a tall task at this juncture.
However the day was saved for the Indian team by Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, who won against Grandmaster Aryan Tari in 45 moves.
Playing with white pieces, Gujrathi castled on the queen’s side while Tari had castled on his king’s side earlier.
Gradually Gujrathi’s board position improved as the play was mostly focused on the board’s centre with the Indian going in for exchange of queens. After that, some precise play by Gujrathi ensured the win.
On the top board, World No.15 and Indian Grandmaster P.Harikrishna took on No.1 by ranking and World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen.
The game progressed evenly in the Giuoco Piano variation with both the players not giving any space to the other and finally agreed to sign the peace treaty at the end of the 47th move.
On the third board, Indian Grandmaster B. Adhiban drew with Jon Ludvig Hammer in 43 moves.
“India’s performance in the open category was really great. It had played against all the strong teams including the medal winners. It had upset Azerbaijan, England and drew with Russia,” a chess coach told IANS, preferring anonymity.
He said Harikrishna and Gujrathi were ranked fourth in the list of prizes for the first and third board prizes.
The Indian eves too lost their chances to make it to the medal list with its draw against America.
International Master (IM) Padmini Rout who had a winning position lost her rook for a knight and the game couple of moves later against IM Nazi Paikidze.
On the top board, World No.5 Indian GM Harika Dronavalli drew her game against GM Irina Krush.
While IM Tania Sachdev won her game in 78 moves, WGM Soumya Swaminathan spilt points against her American opponent.
Sachdev was ranked fourth top player for the third board.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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