Indian groups opened their campaigns with simple wins within the Open and ladies’s sections of the forty fourth Chess Olympiad on Friday. All of the six Indian groups (three in Open and three in girls’s occasion) gained 4-0 over their first spherical opponents.
High-seeded Indian girls’s A crew beat Tajikistan whereas the B facet bought the higher of Wales. India’s star participant Koneru Humpy, enjoying on the highest board, R Vaishali, Tania Sachdeva and Bhakti Kulkarni secured victories to make sure a profitable begin. (‘Crybaby’, Indian followers slam Pakistan for pulling out of forty fourth Chess Olympiad, take a look at reactions)
Humpy, the best rated Indian girl participant, bought the higher of Nedezha Antonova in 41 strikes with black items. The Indian C crew too started with a win, hammering Hong Kong 4-0.
The formidable US crew, the top-seed within the Open occasion, dropped half some extent in opposition to 93rd ranked Angola when Worldwide Grasp David Silva held Levon Aronian to a draw. Wesley So, Leinier Dominiguez, Perez and Sam Shankland recorded wins to register 3.5-0.5 victory for US.
… USA, Germany, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and plenty of others.
79 groups within the Ladies’s part of the #ChessOlympiad gained their Spherical 1 matches, and 70 of them with excellent 4-0 rating! pic.twitter.com/pRnOZNu2bP
— Worldwide Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 29, 2022
The second-ranked Ukraine thrashed South Africa 4-0 and third-seed Georgia beat Iraq 4-0. Norway, with out star participant Magnus Carlsen, gained 4-0 in opposition to Lebanon. The three Indian groups within the males’s occasion posted wins within the first spherical matches over Zimbabwe, UAE and South Sudan respectively.
The star-studded ‘A’ crew, ranked second behind the mighty US squad, rolled over Zimbabwe, with Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, SL Narayanan and Ok Sasikiran recording wins. Raunak Sadhwani of the India B crew was the primary participant to register a victory with the White items in opposition to Abdulrahman M in a Sicilian Defence recreation lasting 41 strikes.
Having fun with house benefit, Raunak broke via on the King facet after the change of minor items and dragged the King in a checkmating web with the queen and rooks combining effectively.
“That is my first Olympiad and I’m blissful to begin with a victory particularly when you’ve got performed an excellent recreation,” stated Raunak.
“Me and my crew need to play good chess,” he added.
The opposite wins got here from the fast-rising D Gukesh, the skilled B Adhiban and Nihal Sarin. The crew coached by R B Ramesh selected to relaxation R Praggnanandhaa for Friday’s match.
The opening spherical of the historic Chess Olympiad was inaugurated by Sports activities Minister Anurag Thakur by making the primary transfer on Indian participant Vidit Gujrathi’s board. 5-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, All India Chess Federation President Sanjay Kapoor and Olympiad Director Bharat Singh Chauhan have been additionally current on the event.
Outcomes of India’s matches:
Open: India A beat Zimbabwe 4-0 (Vidit Gujrathi beat Rodwell Makoto, Arjun Erigaisi beat Spencer Masango, S L Narayanan beat Emarald Takudzwa Mushore, Ok Sasikiran beat Jemusse Zhemba).
India B beat UAE 4-0 (D Gukesh beat Omran Al Hosani, Nihal Sarin beat Ibrahim Sultan, B Adhiban beat Saeed Laily Mohamed, Raunak Sadhwani beat Al Taher Abdulrahman Mohammed).
India C beat South Sudan 4-0 (S P Sethuraman beat Deng Cypriano Rehan, Abhijeet Gupta beat Mach Duany Ajak, Karthikeyan Murali beat Thon Gong Gong, Abhimanyu Puranik beat Majur Manyang Peter).
Ladies: India A beat Tajikistan 4-0 (Koneru Humpy beat N Antonova, R Vaishali beat S Abrorova, Tania Sachdev beat Rukshona Saidova, Bhakti Kulkarni beat Mutriba Hotami).
India B beat Wales 4-0 (Vantika Agarwal beat Olivia Smith, Soumya Swaminathan beat Kimberly Chong, Mary Ann Gomes beat Hiya Ray, Divya Deshmukh beat Khushi Bagga).
India C beat Hong Kong 4-0 (Esha Karvade beat Sigappi Kannappan, PV Nandhidhaa beat Jing Xin Deng, V M Sahiti beat Pleasure Ching Li, Pratyusha Bodda beat Ka Yen Lam).