The Nigerian men's team lost on all boards to vastly improved Estonia in one of the matches of the on-going World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, local media reported Friday.
It was a major setback to the team's ambition to be counted among the elite group of the game, but it would also have been a major upset if Nigeria had beaten the former Soviet Republic in the 11-round Swiss event tournament, according to the Lagos based Guardian newspaper.
International Master Dapo Adu played his familiar Sicilian Defence, but found Master Kulaots Kaido (2556) too hot to handle.
Kaido had a prepared line to off set all the tricks the Nigerian put up with the defining moment coming on move 16, where g6 was a better option as against long castling.
The Estonian Grand Master took control of the game from that move and brought it to a ruthless conclusion on move 26. Benjamin Omorere on board two also had his hands full against Master Riho Liiva (2460). In spite of playing the white side of Reti opening and with good position, especially with the early exchange on c4, he still struggled and gave a piece at the brink of time fortieth on move 34.
Another debutant, Bomo Kighiga failed to get past international Master Olav Sepp (2397) on board three.
The Nigerian allowed his opponent to gain control of d5 square in a Hedgehog defence opening, which led to early exchange of minor pieces with Bomo losing the vital light Bishop on d5.
The result notwithstanding, Nigeria still remains second in category C medal ranking with five points, while Pakistan maintain its top position with six. But with Adegboyega Adebayo returning to duty in the next round against Albania, Nigeria has the chance to move to the top again.
Adebayo is also still in contention for the precious individual board order medal on board three.
While the male team had a four nil drubbing yesterday, their female counterpart secured a 2-2 scoreline against Dominican Republic in the same round to go top in category E medal ranking.
In spite of early loss by Rachael Dappa on board two, Folusayo Togun and Merit Uwa lifted the team as they won their respective games over Woman FIDE Master Eniela Perez and Keina Jose-Polanco respectively.
But Tolu Jeje was no match to Dorisbel Monoz on board four.
Source: Xinhua
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