Indian players had a fruitful outing at the European Club Cup chess competition. The event featuring 102 teams and many strong players was held in Rhodes in Greece. D Gukesh was the biggest gainer as he clinched the gold medal on the top board while his team SuperChess emerged champion. It was a satisfying campaign for the world champion, who was not having a great time of late. This performance comes as a morale-booster for the 19-year-old ahead of the FIDE World Cup beginning in Goa on November 1.
In the women’s section, Divya Deshmukh won the gold medal on the second board. Her team Cercle d’echecs de Monte Carlo became the champion. Divya, who won the women’s World Cup this year, is the only woman competitor in the World Cup featuring 206 players. She should also be in a good mental space going into the big event following her exploits in the European Club Cup.
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Divya gave a good account of herself and finished with a performance rating of 2591. Her actual rating is 2497, which means she performed like a player rated almost 100 points ahead of her. This should push her beyond the 2500 mark when the next official list is released in November. That will formally make her a Grandmaster because to a player has to touch 2500 to secure that title.
Gukesh’s rating is also expected to get better after this competition. He lost points following the Grand Swiss Open in Uzbekistan last month and dropped out of the top 10 after a long time. In the October list, he was ranked 11th in the world with a rating of 2752. In Rhodes, the 19-year-old had an exceptionally high performance rating of 2927. He is also likely to be back in the top 10 when the next list is out. Because he was on the top board, Gukesh played against the strongest players of the opponent teams. Emerging the best among them augurs well for him ahead of a marquee event.
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A number of Indian players were among the star performers. Playing for the team Alkaloid which finished second, Abhimanyu Puranik won the gold on the seventh board. Aravindh Chithambaram secured the bronze on the fourth board representing the same team. Nihal Sarin secured gold on the fourth board playing for the team called Bayegan Pendik.
All these players will be taking part in the World Cup. A good outing before that should keep them in good stead. Not without reason will a number of Indians start in Goa as the favourites.
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