In the absence of top players, B. Adhiban and Surya Shekhar Ganguly will be a part of the all-Grandmaster men’s team which will spearhead the Indian challenge at the World Team Chess Championship starting March 5 in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Besides Adhiban and Ganguly, the team will also comprise Krishnan Sasikiran, S.P. Sethuraman, and Aravindh Chithambaram.
The men’s team will be accompanied by coach and non-playing captain GM Srinath Narayanan, the All-India Chess Federation said.
India’s top three chess players — Viswanathan Anand, P Harikrishna and Vidit Gujarati — will not be participating in the tournament.
“We as a team are motivated and looking forward to beating them all,” coach Srinath was quoted on the AICF website.
Speaking about the strategies, Srinath underlined the importance of consistency.
“Unlike the Olympiad, this is a closed, round-robin event. Therefore, consistency and solidity is important. A few stray wins won’t be decisive, it will be a question of who stays solid and consistent over nine rounds,” he said.
In the women’s section, the team consists of IM Soumya Swaminathan, IM Tania Sachdev, IM Eesha Karavade, WGM Bhakti Kulkarni, and IM Padmini Rout.
The team is coached and captained by GM Swapnil Dhopade.
The world team chess championship is played once every two years and features 10 teams in each section.
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