Top seed Russia pipped defending champions India by winning the gold medal in the World Youth (Under-16) Chess Olympiad that concluded at Turkey on October 2, 2009.
India won the silver medal for the team event. In the board prizes, Debashis Das of Cuttack won the gold medal for best performance in the second board while Deepathamsh Reddy of Hyderabad took the silver for second best performance in the reserve board.
Russia beat South Africa 4-0 to reach 30 points and win the title by a good two point margin. Second seed India finished second beating Turkish Girls 4-0 for the second place. In the third place was Armenia who also blanked Turkey Red 4-0.
Indian score of 28 points came from: (in board order) K. Priyadarshan (Madurai, 6.5/10), Debashis Das (Cuttack, 7.5/9), Aditya Udeshi (Mumbai, 4.5/8), Girish Koushik (Mysore, 5/7), Deepthamsh Reddy (Hyderabad, 4.5/6).
India won against Sri Lanka, England 4-0, beat Georgia 3-1, beat Turkey-T 2.5-1.5, lost to Russia 1-3, beat Uzbekistan 3-1, beat Azerbaijan, Hungary 2.5-1.5, lost to Armenia 1.5-2.5, beat Turkey-G 4-0.
India was in lead for most of the tournament. Russians caught up in round eight and our defeat in round nine made things easier for the Russians who swung into a 2-point lead. India started well, Russia finished well. Our 1-3 defeat to Russia made the difference between the teams in the end.
India had won the 2007 edition at Singapore and 2008 edition at Turkey and were looking for a hat-trick. Russia dashed our hopes by fielding a strong team and also by playing well.
Final placings: 1 Russia 30/40; 2 India 28; 3 Armenia 27; 4 Georgia 25.5; 5 Turkey-T 24; 6-7. Uzbekistan, South Africa-B 23 each; 8-10 Hungary, Azerbaijan, Turkey-G 22.5...22 teams.
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