World Chess Olympiad: Oragwu, Asanga Rescue Nigeria

The bravery of Olympiad debutants Nonso Oragwu and Nsisong Asanga rescued Nigeria's male and female teams from the jaw of defeat in the hands of Pakistan and United Arab Emirates respectively in Istanbul, Turkey.
The 11 round Swiss event pairing which entered third round last night had Oragwu secured a vital win against Waqar Ahmad Madni (2035) in the white side of Sicilian defense Najdoff variation in 43 moves.

The Nigerian prodigy in the course of the game perfectly coordinated an attack on the King side of his opponent and won a Bishop on move 24 and thereafter resorted in exchange of minor officers before he brought the game to a ruthless conclusion with a two advanced pawns.

Earlier the duo of International Masters Dapo Adu and Bomo Kigigha had lost to Lodhi Mahmood (2358) and Oureshi Ansar (2235) respectively before Femi Balogun defeated Ahmed Haseeb (2296) and salvaged Nigeria to a 2-2 score line.

In the female section, Funmilayo Akinola came back from two defeats in the first two days to secure a vital win against International Master Al-Ali Hussein (2329) of United Arab Emirates.

Akinola playing on board three, implored a Reti opening and seized the advantage from move 25 after her opponent blundered her Knight on d6. The Nigerian master won a free officer further in the middle play exchange and held on to the advantage till the end to win the first game out of the four on schedule.

Asanga followed same pattern with a long end game win over Alzarooni Aesha Easa on board two. The Chess Olympiad debutant imposed her favorite English opening on her opponent who made a sacrifice of a Room fora Bishop on move 18 but the exchange further created more problems in the middle play and cost her to lose two more pawns in the end play.

While Tobi Olatunji maintained her prefect losing streak against Saleh Noura Mohammed, Vivian Dzaayem lost her first game in the tournament after losing her Queen without compensation against Woman International Master Bukhasshem Fayqa (1762) in a Sicilian defense opening.

On top boards, Bosnia and Herzegovina maintained top position in both male and female with a 2-2 shoreline against Slovania and Slovakia respectively.