The most heartening thing about the men's Indian team has been that in every round we have had a different player put up his hand to save the team from a loss. In round four against China, it was Surya Sekhar Ganguly who beat Yu Yangyi, while in round five it was Sethuraman who called the shots to get the better of Gawain Jones. In both the matches against China and England we ended with a 2-2 tie. Let's first begin with round three where India managed to score a comfortable 3.5-0.5 victory against Egypt.
In round 4, India faced the strong team of China. But it was clear that China was suffering, having lost to USA in one of the previous rounds. This time Ni Hua was rested and Bu Xiangzhi represented China on board 4. This was a good decision because it was Bu Xiangzhi that gave China a full point by beating Aravindh Chithambaram. Ganguly rose up to the occasion and playing some inspired chess managed to equalize the score, with Adhiban drawing his game against Ding Liren and Sethuraman against Wei Yi.
Results of round 5:
Standings after round 5 in open section
| Rk. | SNo | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 9 | Russia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 13,0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | India | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13,0 | 0 |
| 3 | 5 | England | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 11,0 | 0 |
| 4 | 8 | United States of America | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10,5 | 0 |
| 5 | 2 | Iran | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11,5 | 0 |
| 6 | 4 | China | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11,0 | 0 |
| 7 | 6 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9,5 | 0 |
| 8 | 10 | Sweden | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7,5 | 0 |
| 9 | 7 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8,0 | 0 |
| 10 | 3 | Egypt | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5,0 | 0 |
Women's section
In round three the Indian team scored a fine win against Armenia. Soumya Swaminathan lost her game against Lilit Mkrtchian, but Padmini Rout and Bhakti Kulkarni won their games on boards three and four to give India a 2.5-1.5 victory.
In round four India lost by a big margin to Russia. Soumya was the only one who could draw her game against Kosteniuk. Eesha lost to Lagno, Tania, who played her first game, was downed by Goryachkina and Bhakti couldn't save the half point against Girya.
With the Chinese team on 10.0/10 and Russia on 8.0/10, it seems as if India will be fighting for the bronze medal. Ukraine, Georgia and USA will be the teams in the run. We need a strong finish from the girls in the last four rounds. With China, Ukraine and USA still left to play, this is not going to be easy.
Standings after round 5 in women's section:
| Rk. | SNo | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 4 | China | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 13,5 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Russia | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 15,5 | 0 |
| 3 | 6 | Ukraine | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13,0 | 0 |
| 4 | 8 | Georgia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 12,0 | 0 |
| 5 | 3 | India | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11,0 | 0 |
| 6 | 5 | United States of America | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10,0 | 0 |
| 7 | 9 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9,0 | 0 |
| 8 | 1 | Armenia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8,5 | 0 |
| 9 | 7 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6,0 | 0 |
| 10 | 10 | Egypt | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1,5 | 0 |
