Vidit Gujrathi fought back from an inferior position to salvage an important draw to complement S. L. Narayanan’s brilliant victory on the third board as India and Uzbekistan drew 2-2 in the first round of the semifinals in the World Team Chess Championship in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Nihal Sarin drew on the second board before S. P. Sethuraman squandered some early advantage to lose on the fourth board. In the second round of the quarterfinals on Wednesday, France hit back with a 3-1 victory over India to force the tie-breaker.
With each board witnessing a blitz game, the time-control being three minutes per player plus two-second increment per move, Nihal’s victory on the second board proved crucial after Narayanan won and K. Sasikiran drew.
