RESULTS UPDATE 9:27PM: In the open section, third seed Norway suffered another shock loss, this time Australia 1.5-2.5, despite World champion Magnus Carlsen winning his top-board game against Anton Smirnov. Top seed United States, however, won its match against 2.5-1.5, riding on Fabiano Caruana’s victory over Parham Maghsoodloo.
RESULTS UPDATE 9:17PM: It was 2-2 between India and Uzbekistan in the open section. Though Harikrishna defeated the prodigious Nodirbek Abdusattarov on the top board, the defeats of B. Adhiban and Raunak Sadhwani to Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and Robert Hovhannisyan proved costly for the host. On the second board, Nihal Sarin drew with Hrant Melkumyan.
In the women’s section India 2 was held 2-2 by Czhech Republic. Vantika Agrawal, Padmini Rout, Mary Ann Gomes and Divya Deshmukh all drew with their lesser-rated rivals.
India 3, however, defeated Australia 3-1, riding on wins on the lower boards by M. Sahithi Varshini and Vishwa Vasnwala, over Nguyen Mai Chi Phan and Giang Thu Nguyen. Eesha Karvade and P.V. Nandhidhaa drew their game.
RESULTS UPDATE: 8:09PM: In the open section, India 2 suffered its first loss, going 1.5-2.5 down to Armenia. The scores were level at 1.5-1.5 when the top three board finished. But Raunak Sadhwani lost the fourth board to Robert Hovhannisyan.
India 3 scored a thumping 3.5-0.5 victory over Lithuania. S.P. Sethuraman, Abhijeet Gupta and Abhimanyu Puranik all posted wins, over Karolis Juksta, Paulius Pultinevicius and Valery Kazakouski respectively. The only Indian not to win his game was Surya Shekhar Ganguly, who was held to a draw on the top board by Titas Stremavicius.
RESULTS UPDATE: 6:54PM: D. Gukesh continued his fine run with a 41-move victory over a higher-rated Gabriel Sargissian for India 2 in the match against Armenia. But B. Adhiban lost to Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, while Nihal Sarin drew with Hrant Melkumyan. That means the match score is tied at 1.5-1.5, with just the result from the fourth board encounter, between Rauank Sadhwani and Robert Hovhannisyan, to come.
In the women’s section, India scored a fine 3-1 win over Georgia. That was thanks largely to Koneru Humpy on the top board and R. Vaishali on the third, against Nana Dzagnidze and Lela Javakhishvili, respectively. Dronavalli Harika and Tania Sachdev drew their games.
Here’s the complete breakdown of Indian players in the fray today. You can track their progress here:
| FIDE OLYMPIAD DAY 2 | OPEN CATEGORY | RESULTS |
| INDIA | UZBEKISTAN | SCORE/RESULT |
| Harikrishna Pentala | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 1-0 |
| Vidit Gujrathi | Yakubboev Nodirbek | 1/2-1/2 |
| Arjun Erigaisi | Sindarov Javokhir | 1/2-1/2 |
| Sasikiran Krishnan | Vokhidov Shamsiddin | 0-1 |
| INDIA | ARMENIA | SCORE/RESULT |
| D Gukesh | Sargissian Gabriel | 1-0 |
| Nihal Sarin | Melkumyan Hrant | 1/2-1/2 |
| Adhiban B. | Ter-Sahakyan Samvel | 0-1 |
| Raunak Sadhwani | Hovhannisyan Robert | 0-1 |
| INDIA C | LITHUANIA | SCORE/RESULT |
| Surya Shekhar Ganguly | Stremavicius Titas | 1/2-1/2 |
| Sethuraman S.P. | Juksta Karolis | 1-0 |
| Abhijeet Gupta | Pultinevicius Paulius | 1-0 |
| Abhimanyu Puranik | Kazakouski Valery | 1-0 |
| FIDE OLYMPIAD DAY 2 | WOMEN'S CATEGORY | RESULTS |
| INDIA | GEORGIA | SCORE/RESULT |
| Koneru Humpy | Dzagnidze Nana | 1-0 |
| Harika Dronavalli | Batsiashvili Nino | 1/2-1/2 |
| Vaishali R | Javakhishvili Lela | 1-0 |
| Tania Sachdev | Melia Salome | 1/2-1/2 |
| INDIA B | CZECH REPUBLIC | SCORE/RESULT |
| Vantika Agrawal | Movsesian Julia | 1/2-1/2 |
| Padmini Rout | Worek Joanna | 1/2-1/2 |
| Mary Ann Gomes | Pilsova Karolina | 1/2-1/2 |
| Divya Deshmukh | Petrova Kristyna | 1/2-1/2 |
| INDIA C | AUSTRALIA | SCORE/RESULT |
| Eesha Karavade | Ryjanova Julia | 1/2-1/2 |
| Nandhidhaa P V | Richards Heather S | 1/2-1/2 |
| Sahithi Varshini M | Phan Nguyen Mai Chi | 1-0 |
| Vishwa Vasnawala | Nguyen Thu Giang | 1-0 |
In 2000, just over six years before D. Gukesh was born, Alexie Shirov tried in vain to stop Viswanathan Anand from winning his first of the five world titles. On Tuesday, it was Gukesh’s turn to outplay the 50-year-old Latvian-Spaniard to not only to keep India 2 on the victory path but also to become India’s third highest rated player on the live rating list.
In winning his fifth game on the trot on the top board of the Chess Olympiad, Gukesh punished Shirov for an error of judgement on the 28th move. In fact, the country’s youngest Grandmaster produced a rare king-march across the centre of the board that left Shirov helpless.
In fact, with rook pairs still on the board, Gukesh moved his king six times over the last 11 moves to force his veteran rival to give up in 44 moves.
The victory saw Gukesh overtook Vidit Gujrathi for a career-high 27th spot in world rankings with a live rating of 2714, after gaining 15 points in the last five days. Vidit, having lost three points from four games, now has a live rating of 2711 for the 28th place.
B. Adhiban victory came before R. Praggnanandhaa suffered a rare loss but by that time, India 2 was firmly among the leaders.
For India 1, it was 18-year-old Arjun Erigaisi who did the trick after all boards ended as draws against Romania. For India 3, S. P. Sethuraman and Abhimanyu Puranik won with white pieces against their Chilean rivals but M. Karthikeyan lost.
S. P. Sethuraman and Abhimanyu Puranik won with white pieces for India 3 against Chile to offset Murali Karthikeyan loss on the third board
Twice in 24 hours, Tania Sachdev’s decisive blow kept India 1 among the leaders.
Round 5 in the women’s section proved a tough one for a number of medal-contenders but India 1, Georgia and Romania maintained their winning run.
Facing fifth seed France, the top Indian combination scored a 2.5-1. 5victory following Tania’s clincher against Andreea Navrotescu, amid drawn games involving K. Humpy, D. Harika and R. Vaishali on the higher boards.
For Georgia, it will be a third successive match against an Indian team on Wednesday. After beating India 3 in the fourth round, Georgia easily nailed India 2 by striking on the two lower boards.
India 3. which looked like winning against Brazil after P. V . Nandhidhaa’s victory put the team 2-1 ahead, but could not get more.
Pratyusha Bodda lost to Juliana Sayumi Terao in the concluding fixture.
Romania, the conqueror of fourth seed Poland 2.5-1.5, joined India 1 and Georgia at 10 points to stay in the leading pack.
Second seed Ukraine suffered a minor setback when sixth seed Azerbaijan proved equal. Former World champion Mariya Muzychuk’s top-board victory over Gunay Mammadzada stood nullified with Uliviyya Fataliyeva stretching her winning run to four after facing Ukraine’s Nataliya Buksa.
The other two boards ended in draws.
Seventh seed USA continued to struggle after Peru, seeded 31, handed out a 2.5-1.5 defeat. Shocking were the defeats of Irina Krush (2430) and Carissa Yip (2416) to Ann Chumpitaz (2278) and Paula Paredes Bustamante (2162), respectively.
The Chess Olympiad is being held in India for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1927 with the honour coming to Chennai, considered the chess capital of the country. This is also the first time in 30 years that the Olympiad is coming to Asia.
If you’ve missed the Olympiad hype train, we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about the biggest event in the game in brief:
- The event will see the highest number of countries participating in an Olympiad
- Nearly 350 teams in the Open and women’s sections from 187 countries will be in fray. Of these, 188 teams are in the Open section and 162 in the women’s.
- Previously, the Batumi Olympiad in 2018 had set the record with 184 and 150 teams in the Open and women’s sections, respectively, from 179 countries.
- India’s 30-member squad will be their biggest squad ever.
- Given Russia and China’s non-participation, India Team A is seeded second while the USA tops the ranking list.
Live streaming of the Chess Olympiad will be available on the official YouTube channel of FIDE Chess Olympiad. The event will be telecast live on the Doordarshan TV channel in India. You can follow the boards and all the analysis from matches on each day on Sportstar too.
Comments
SHARE