Chess Olympiad: India 2 snatches bronze medal

For India, this was the second medal from the Open second of the Olympiad, to go with the one from the 2014 edition.

Members of India B team (L-R) Grandmaster (GM) Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, GM Adhiban Baskaran, GM Dommaraju Gukesh and GM Nihal Sarin during the 44th Chess Olympiad, at Mamallapuram near Chennai. | Photo Credit: PTI

MAMALLAPURAM

Putting aside the disappointment of missing a chance to have a go at the gold medal, India 2 climbed the podium with a resounding 3-1 victory over Germany in the 11th and final round here.

With Nihal Sarin and Ranuak Sadhwani striking with white pieces while D. Gukesh and R. Praggnanandhaa gaining a draw with black, India 2 emerged as the only team at 18 points, one behind champion Uzbekistan and runner-up Armenia.

The young combination of Uzbekistan defeated Netherlands 2.5-1.5 while joint-overnight leader Armenia scored an identical victory over Spain.

For India, this was the second medal from the Open second of the Olympiad, to go with the one from the 2014 edition.

Second India 1 also came up with a fine performance to hold top seed USA 2-2. But this result left the teams on 17 points and kept them away from the podium. India 1 finished fourth and USA, fifth. India 3, seeded 16, drew with Kazakhstan to finish a distant 31st .

Individual gold medals for D. Gukesh and Nihal Sarin, silver to Arjun Erigiasi and bronze to R. Praggnanandhaa underlined the phenomenal display of this teen-quartet in the premier competition.

Important results (11th round, with match-points)

Open: Germany (15) lost to India 2 (18) 1-3 (Vincent Keymer drew with D. Gukesh; Matthias Bluebaum lost to Nihal Sarin; Rasmus Svane drew with R. Praggnanandhaa; Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu lost to Raunak Sadhwani).

India 1 (17) drew with USA (17) 2-2 (P. Harikrishna drew with Caruana Fabiano; Vidit Gujrathi drew with Wesley So; Arjun Erigaisi bt Leinier Dominguez Perez; S. L. Narayanan lost to Sam Shankland).

Kazakhstan (15) drew with India 3 (14) 2-2 (Rinat Jumabayev bt Surya Shekhar Ganguly; Alisher Sulemenov drew with S. P. Sethuraman; Arystanbek Urzayev lost to M. Karthikeyan; Kazybek Norgerbek drew with Abhimanyu Puranik).

Armenia (19) bt Spain (15) 2.5-1.5; Uzbekistan (19) bt Netherlands (15) 2.5-1.5; Moldova (17) bt England (15) 2.5-1.5; Azerbaijan (16) bt Serbia (15) 2.5-1.5.

Standings: 1-2. Uzbekistan, Armenia, 3. India 2, 4-6. India 1, USA and Moldova, 31. India 3.

Individual prizes (Board 1): 1. D. Gukesh (Ind 2), 2. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb), Magnus Carlsen (Nor); (Board 2): 1. Nihal Sarin (Ind 2), 2. Nikolaos Theodorou (Gre), 3. Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb); (Board 3): 1. David Howell (Eng), 2. Arjun Erigaisi (Ind 1), 3. R. Praggnanandhaa (Ind 2); (Board 4): 1. Jakhongir Vakhidov (Uzb), 2. Paulius Pultinevicius (Ltu), 3. Jaime Santos Latasa (Esp); (Reserve): 1. Mateusz Bartel (Pol), 2. Robert Hovhannisyan (Arm), 3. Volodymyr Onyshchuk (Ukr).