Chess Olympiad 2022, Viswanathan Anand Exclusive Column: India C tough journeymen, might outdo India A
Viswanathan Anand analyses the six Indian teams’ performances on Day 1 of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Chennai.
Published : Jul 29, 2022 23:07 IST
Members of India C. India is fielding three teams in the open and women’s category. | Photo Credit: FIDE
Today, I didn’t expect too many surprises. There was the biggest strength-difference in pairings so it went smoothly for the top teams. Even if there is an accident, it won’t be enough to disturb the team. There could be one board that can go wrong here or there, like Levon’s did today.
On a day like this, more action will be in the middle (of the draw) where the teams converge in strength.
India fielding three teams in each section is obviously good for the Indian fans. The third team in the women's section has lots of ‘rookies’ but they are highly motivated and trained. I hope for a good result from them, results that they are happy with. At the moment, I don’t have a sense of what expectations to have (from them).
Surya Shekhar Ganguly, S. P. Sethuraman, Murali Karthikeyan, Abhijeet Gupta, and Abhimanyu Puranik (in India C), these are tough journeymen. It won’t surprise me if they do even better than India 1. It depends on their opponents and how their game shapes up. They are strong enough to be a ‘dark horse’. They are strong enough to be a “Thambi”. They are just a strong, dangerous team.