Indian Women A notched their seventh successive victory against sixth seed Azerbaijan by a 2.5-1.5 score to maintain their sole lead in the Women's section of the 44th Chess Olympiad with 14 points - two points ahead of second-placed Ukraine and Armenia. Indian eves suffered a few hiccups after Humpy ended up on the losing side in the first game to end. Tania and Vaishali once again rose to the occasion magnificently by scoring hard-fought victories, while Harika also battled hard to split the point.

Tania and Ulviyya battling in a Queen's Gambit Declined game matched pace for the most part till the middle game. A strayed knight on the king-side allowed Tanya to break through in the centre, and even though her opponent's rook had invaded the seventh rank, Tanya managed to exchange most pieces and steered the game to a much better ending. Tanya eventually broke her opponent's resistance and scored a full point on the move 63.

Vaishali played splendidly in a drawish rook endgame, pressurizing her opponent with precise and active moves and finally pulled off so much-needed victory.

Vaishali later confessed: "Till the 40th turn, my game was dead equal, and I considered settling for a draw. After Humpy's loss, I had to keep pressing and, interestingly, this was one position which we had worked in the camp with Boris Gelfand, and I followed his suggestions to the 'T'. A hallmark of the Women's A Team has been the ability of every player to score a win when the team needed it most."

Abhijit Kunte said: "The way Harika, Vaishali and Tania continued in this pressure position is very heartening. The players understand the situation perfectly and deliver."

Georgia bounced back after yesterday's loss to beat Romania 2.5-1.5, and Ukraine trounced Netherland 3.5-0.5, while Bulgaria held Poland to a 2-2 draw.

India Women B team, seeded 11th, was shocked by 27th seeded Greece 1.5-2.5. Divya Deshmukh scored the lone victory for India, while Vantika Agrawal and Soumya Swaminathan lost their encounters, and Mary Ann Gomes had to settle for a draw.

India Women C defeated Switzerland by 3-1, with victories by Eesha Karavade and P V Nandhidhaa and draws by Bodda Pratyusha and Vasnawala Vishwa.

The complete results for round 6 can be found at the official website for the Olympiad, https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results.

 Standings after round 7 can be found at  https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-standings.