Bengaluru: It’s a magical time for Indian chess. There’s an Indian teen who will stake claim for the world title this year, who also happens to be playing the best chess of his young career to steer India to a historic gold at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest with a round to spare.
The Indian Open team took down top seeds USA 2.5-1.5 in Round 10 of the Chess Olympiad to stay at the top of the standings in a show of absolute domination. At this point, even if India loses the final round, it is unlikely to make much of a difference.
For all practical purposes, Round 10 was critical in deciding medal fortunes for the team. The Open needed a win or a draw to stay on course for a gold. They did just that and snuffed out the Americans’ hope for gold. The women were in a must-win situation against China. They managed to get the job done 2.5-1.5.
Wesley So was the first to strike for the USA, defeating R Praggnanandhaa in the Open section. The Americans’ joy was short-lived though. “If we get 2-2 today it would be a miracle,” So said, “One blunder (his loss against Vasyl Ivanchuk) and you have to wait two years for a gold medal. It’s unfortunate that Hikaru (Nakamura) doesn’t play the Olympiad anymore. I’m willing to give him my spot.”
Gukesh and Arjun did an encore to deny Wesley’s wish of a miracle.
At the 2022 Olympiad, Gukesh, then 16, had taken apart Fabiano Caruana in a stunning result. In Budapest, the American world No. 3 faced a stronger, steelier challenger in the Indian who made it two in a row. The Indian teen’s ability to spot tactics with seconds on the clock has been peerless. He spotted the brilliant 35. Rf4 against Caruana with just 20 seconds on his clock and was soon rolling his sleeves in anticipation.
On Board 3, in what was a battle of generations, Arjun Erigaisi was up against Cuban-American Grandmaster Leinier Domínguez, who he defeated two years ago at the Chennai Olympiad. Known as a sound theoretician with solid play, the 40-year-old Dominguez was staring at positional worries early on in the game with Black, with his pieces being cramped and a queenside with long-term weaknesses. Under time pressure, Dominguez couldn’t make good of his exchange sacrifice and he was soon in hot water.
The women’s standings had seen a bit of a churn on Friday after Kazakhstan moved into the lead with a win. The women’s field in Budapest isn’t particularly strong with China’s top players, the Russian women’s team and the Muzychuk sisters, Anna and Mariya, not part of the Ukraine line-up either.
Harika, the most experienced player in the Indian women’s team, has not been having the best tournament so far. She had won two games, lost three and drawn two, in the seven rounds she played leading up to Saturday’s Round 10. She played out a draw with Zhu Jiner on Board 1. The other three Chinese players were largely unknown quantities, possibly even underrated, coming into the tournament. Divya Deshmukh, who has been stellar at this Olympiad, gave India the early lead with a win. She has leapfrogged both Vaishali and Harika to become India’s second-highest ranked player after Koneru Humpy on the live ratings.
Meanwhile, reigning world champion Ding Liren’s troubles over the board continued as he let Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov to get away with a draw from a lost position, lengthening his wait for a classical win to nearly eight months now.
Round 10 results:
Open (India-USA)
D Gukesh beat Fabiano Caruana
R Praggnanandhaa lost to Wesley So
Arjun Erigaisi beats Leinier Dominguez Perez
Levon Aronian Vidit Gujrathi
Women (India-China)
Harika Dronavalli drew Zhu Jiner
Qi Guo drew Vaishali R
Divya Deshmukh beat Shiqun Ni
Miaoyi Lu drew Vantika Agrawal