Bled (Slovenia): India suffered a double blow in the 13th round when both the men's and women's teams lost their matches against Switzerland and United States respectively in the 35th Chess Olympiad here.

While the men's team slipped to joint 26th position on 29.5 points after suffering 1.5-2.5 defeat in the penultimate round, the women's 1-2 loss pushed them to the 14th spot with 22.5 points.

On what turned out to be a tame affair on the top boards in the men's section, sole leaders Russia took a cue from Hungary to settle for a quick 2-2 draw with Israel to maintain its two-point lead with only one round to go.

Hungary maintained its second position on 34.5 points with a draw against Armenia. In both these encounters all the four boards were drawn in under an hour's play.

Georgia hold the third place on 33 points after its trounced Canada 3.5-0.5, while China is a close fourth on 32.5 points. Though the race for the gold and silver looks decisively settled in favour of Russia and Hungary, a few teams are in contention for the bronze.

The women's section took a new turn as leader Georgia suffered its third successive loss in the event, going down 1-2 to Bulgaria to surrender the lead to holders China, which drew with Ukraine.

The women's section however remains wide open with China on 27 points and Georgia and Russia a half point behind.

PTI