Mixed Results for India; Gukesh and Vantika move to 4/4

The free-flowing flourish of Team India had a minor setback on Day 4 of the Chess Olympiad 2022. India 3 teams in the Open and Women's categories suffered losses in their contests against higher-rated oppositions. While the first team in the open section was held to a draw by France, the remaining teams marched on with crucial wins.

The Indian contingent scored 12.5/24 game points with three teams heading into round five with eight match points each. The second team in the open section continued to dominate and impress as they notched up a 3-1 victory against the strong Italian team. It was going to be a tough round as Italy had just pulled off an upset in the previous round overcoming fourth seed, Norway. However, Gukesh and Nihal were in their elements as they registered wins on the first two boards. Playing with white, Gukesh showed excellent preparation with an interesting idea of playing with the king in the center. Soon, in a few moves, courtesy of his opponent's slight inaccuracy, the youngster got an advantage which he masterly converted in the next moves. Nihal, on the other hand, was at the receiving end of the London system, an opening that he very frequently uses with the white pieces. He was quick to latch on to the opportunity to get an edge out of the opening with 10... e5! By move 18, he had a decisive advantage that never really slipped out of control. With the top two boards going so well, both Praggnanandhaa and Raunak saw no reason to stretch in their respective encounters as they split the points in their games.

The top seeds in the women's section played out the round very strategically. Harika drew her game rather quickly with the black pieces. As the round progressed, Tania Sachdev got an amazing position on board 4 after her opponent misplayed a rook manoeuvre. In no time, she won an exchange with no real threats which meant that a positive result was on the way. Vaishali kept things tight on board 2 with the London system. A lot of exchanges meant that the game headed into a double rook ending which eventually was agreed to a draw. On board 1, Koneru Humpy got a very pleasant setup after the initial few moves which translated into a winning advantage on move 30. However, a tiny inaccuracy on move 34 meant that things were even steven! Soon, the game reached a stage where players found nothing more than a threefold repetition. Once again, Tania delivered in a tight match that ended 2.5-1.5 in favor of the hosts.

Team two in the women's category also notched up a victory against Estonia riding on Vantika Agrawal's win against seasoned campaigner, Narva Mai. Playing white against the Blumenfeld countergambit, Vantika reacted well with a series of good moves which soon got her a strong advantage on move 20. The evaluation of the position never really changed throughout the game as she went on to win smoothly. The win gave the remaining three boards the cushion to play without taking risks. Such is the dynamics of team events! Padmini Rout and Divya Deshmukh held on comfortably with the black pieces, while Soumya did well to force the issue with a perpetual. Once again, 2.5-1.5 India!

The first Indian team in the Open section was paired against France. Even without their star player GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave, the French team managed to hold the second seeds of the event to a commendable draw. Arjun Erigaisi, on board 3 blitzed out his opening moves to secure a draw against Matthieu Cornette with the black pieces in 24 moves. Vidit Gujrathi also settled for a draw against Fressinet Laurent after finding nothing conclusive. Both Harikrishna and SL Narayanan fought hard but could only split the point in their games against Moussard Jules and Lagarde Maxime respectively. 

Team 2 had a tough day at the office as they got edged out 1.5-2.5 by fourth seed, Spain. On board 1, Surya Shekhar Ganguly held Alexie Shirov to a draw with the white pieces playing the Scotch variation. Mass exchanges along the b-file meant that the players headed into the endgame with a symmetrical pawn structure with very less chances to force the issue. For Spain, the win came on board 3 from Anton Gujjaro David who was quick to latch on to an inaccuracy by Abhijeet Gupta on move 27. Even with very less to play with, the Spaniard put pressure on the Indian with accurate moves one after the other. Soon, in the same colored bishop endgame, a side passed pawn made all the difference as Spain took over in the match. SP Sethuraman and Karthikeyan Murali were unable to crack through with the black pieces despite a long fight which meant that India faced their first loss in the event.

The third women's team, too had a challenging pairing as they were up against third seed, Georgia. It all started with a very unfortunate oversight by youngster Sahithi Varshini on board 3 against Lela Javakhashvili. Can you spot what the Indian missed on move 9 which landed her in a completely lost position?

A loss like that is never easy for the team to take, but WGM Nandidhaa PV kept her cool and came out on top against IM Nino Batsiashvili. The local star played accurately mounting pressure on every move. On move 32, she took over after getting an opportunity to win the b-pawn, creating a passed pawn in the process. Soon, she won another pawn which proved decisive. But, it was heartbreak for Team India as Eesha Karavade could not hold the position against GM Nana Dzagnidze on board 1.  The Pune-based IM got into a passive setup out of the opening which was duly punished by the Georgian GM.

Another day, another set of battles. Team India would look to maintain momentum as they head into Round 5. Here's a look at the pairings for round 5:

Open

India 1 vs Romania

India 2 vs Spain

India 3 vs Chile

Women's

India 1 vs France

India 2 vs Georgia

India 3 vs Brazil

Stay tuned for daily updates!