44th Chess Olympiad round-up: D. Gukesh, Nihal Sarin win individual gold; India 2 claim classy victory over Germany for bronze

India 2’s Nihal Sarin remained unbeaten in the tournament, and claimed the gold medal on the second board with an individual score of 7.5/10 points and a rating performance of 2774. (Image: Twitter/@NihalSarin)

Indian women’s campaign at the 44th World Chess Olympiad ended on a highly disappointing note as the team suffered a crushing defeat against the US, after having led the field through most of the tournament.

Going into the final round, India 1 (women), the favourites to win the title from the start, were the sole leaders with 17 match points, but on Tuesday, they suffered a 1:3 defeat as their star performers, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni, conceded their first losses of the tournament.

Tied for the top spot with 18 match points apiece, Ukraine clinched the title over Georgia in the women’s section on better tie-break score. Despite their loss to the US, India 1 finished third in the women’s section, thanks to better tie-break score, ironically ahead of the US, which, too, scored 17 match points and finished fourth.

In the open section, the youngsters of India 2 claimed the bronze medal with a classy 3:1 victory over Germany, helped by the more experienced India 1, which held the US, the other contender for a podium finish, to a 2:2 tie.

Overnight leaders in the open section, Uzbekistan and Armenia both won their matches, against, respectively, the Netherlands and Spain, to climb to the top of the points table with 19 match points apiece, but the Uzbeks were declared winners in the open section on better tie-break score.

India 2 finished a point behind and clear third, while India 1, scored 17 match points and tied with the US and Moldova for the 4-6 spots. India 1 clinched the fourth position on better tie-break score, followed by the US and Moldova.

Sixteen-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh of India 2 won the individual gold for his performance on the first board. Gukesh, who started with eight consecutive wins, was held to a draw in the last game. He scored 9/11 individual points with a rating performance of 2867 (compared with his current rating of 2699).

India 2’s Nihal Sarin, who remained unbeaten in the tournament, claimed the gold medal on the second board with an individual score of 7.5/10 points and a rating performance of 2774, while Arjun Erigaisi of India 1 and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa of India 2 finished second and third, respectively, on the third board. Both had a rating performance of 2767.

Among the Indian women, R. Vaishali and Sachdev picked up individual honours, finishing third on the third and fourth boards, respectively.

But the biggest reward for the Indian squads was their stellar standings for the Gaprindashvili Trophy, which is based on the combined performance of sides in the open and women’s sections. India 1 and India 2 tied with the US for the top honours with 34 match points each. On tie-break scores, India 1 took the pole position, followed by the US and India 2.

This was clearly India’s best performance ever at the Chess Olympiads, but to put things in context, two of the strongest chess-playing nations, Russia and China, did not take part in the tournament, and as hosts, India could enter as many as three sides each in the open and women’s sections.

Highlights of Tuesday’s final-round contest

With the contest wide open in both sections, the final round was expected to be a test of nerve and resolve for the Indian players. But ironically, the first key result of the day was an 18-move draw between India 1’s Pentala Harikrishna and the US’s Fabiano Caruana. The latter chose to repeat moves and force a draw, avoiding complications. But for the rest of the Indians, it was another day of hard grinding.

Gukesh was evenly matched against Germany’s Vincent Keymer. Neither player could create any real opportunity to win, yet the game got dragged out as the German kept probing for hours, looking at the results of the other boards. Eventually the game ended in a draw after 75 moves.

Raunak Sadhwani put India 2 ahead by winning on the fourth board, while Praggnanandhaa managed to hold on to a slightly inferior endgame to secure a draw. India 2 wrapped up the match with Nihal Sarin converting a small advantage into victory.

In the crucial contest between India 1 and the US, the outcome of which was to determine the final standings, Erigaisi delivered an early lead after the first board encounter between Harikrishna and Caruana had ended in a draw. But S.L. Narayanan went down fighting on the fourth board, allowing the US to draw level. Vidit Gujrathi played convincingly to secure a draw against the much higher rated Wesley So.

For the women, however, it was quite a heartbreak: the Americans made sure India’s top players, Koneru Humpy and R. Vaishali, never got any opportunity to surge ahead. Both pressed hard for wins, but could only secure draws from the first two boards, while Sachdev and Kulkarni got completely outplayed.