India has earned its four-day break at the Chess Olympiad but will now have to wait to find out its opponent in the quarterfinals, to be held on August 28.
The stunning win over second seed China has put India on top of Pool A and also earned it a direct quarterfinal berth. China and Germany, who finished second and third, will have to go through the play-offs route.
In the quarterfinals, India will take on the winner of the match between Armenia and Greece. Neither should pose a problem against a strong Indian side, though in speed chess – especially when played online – not much can be taken for granted.
Russia, which became the only team to win every match in the league as it topped Pool C, Azerbaijan (Pool B) and the United States (Pool D) are the others to join India already in the quarterfinals. India too could have finished with an all-win record, if power failure hadn't impacted the games of Indian captain Vidit Gujrathi and women's World No. 2 Koneru Humpy in Saturday's match against Mongolia.
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