Chess Olympiad Round 2: How Nihal Sarin saved India’s day amid Gukesh’s historic drop in points

Nihal Sarin (right) saves the day for India in Round 2 of the Chess Olympiad (Photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE) NEW DELHI: Reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh was on board 1 facing all the top-ranked opponents during India’s campaign for gold in Budapest at the 2024 Chess Olympiad. Apart from the team, Gukesh also won the individual gold, boosting his overall confidence ahead of the Championship challenge against China’s Ding Liren. If that was the high point of Gukesh’s journey through the Olympics, the 2nd round of the 46th Chess Olympiad brought the lowest as the 20-year-old Chennai grandmaster dropped below the 2700 rating following a draw against Indonesian International Champion (IM) Satria Duta Cahaya in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Thursday.Arjun Erigaisi was rested after losing to Thai IM Prin Laohawirapap on the opening day of the tournament and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa took his designated board 1 this time, Gukesh once again occupied board 3 in India’s match against Indonesia.However, the game itself was more of a long and patient battle than a disaster.Gukesh, playing black against a much lower ranked opponent, switched to a Sicilian setup and spent the middle game maneuvering, his knights bouncing back and forth, both kings tucked, neither side finding a real breakthrough.Around the 40 move mark, the pieces started coming off the board and by the end of the game it was Gukesh with queen and knight against Cahaya’s queen and knight, with roughly equal odds.Gukesh needed a win to protect his ranking and couldn’t find it, so he ended up using his queen to put a series of checks around Cahay’s king, an “eternal check” that forced a draw by replay.It was a safe result, but not what was expected from the reigning world champion against a 2412-rated opponent.Gukesh started this Olympics at 2703 and is now at 2699.5, dropping below the 2700 mark for the first time since it first crossed in 2022.There is a general feeling that the board 3 task could cut both sides for him. He won’t face the strongest opposition every round, but any slip-up against a lower-ranked player carries a big risk to his ranking, just like Thursday.With three of India’s four boards ending in draws, it was Nihal Sarin who kept the team’s campaign on track as he defeated Indonesia’s Arif Abdul Hafiz. Although for much of the game that outcome was far from certain.

D Gukesh draws the 2nd round game (photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE)

How Nihal Sarin saved India’s day

Nihal, playing the white and Sicilian defense, captured the queen and launched a kingside attack with g4 and g5. However, Hafiz countered well, winning pawns and creating serious threats around Nihal’s king. After 22…Qxc2+, Black seemed to be in control, while Nihal was also running out of time dangerously.The breakthrough came with 28.Rxc6+!, a brave rook sacrifice. Instead of trying to get her material back, Nihal decided to reveal the black king. After 28…Kxc6 he continued with Qxe4+ and Qxb4, bringing his queen into the attack. A series of checks then forced Black’s king around the board as Hafiz’s clock continued to decline.By 37.Nc5+ Black had no way out and resigned.It was a scrappy, double-edged fight rather than a clean sweep, but exactly the kind of gutsy victory India needed to avoid an upset.Elsewhere in Indonesia Praggnanandhaa, who was back on board 1 after a day off on Wednesday, Susanto Megaranto drew while Vidit Santosh Gujrathi also settled for a draw on board 4 against Nayaka Budhidharma.With Nihal’s win as the difference maker, India closed the match 2.5-1.5 to remain unbeaten in two rounds.

Indian women’s team registered a comfortable win, revealed the opponents for the 3rd round

With Koneru Humpy taking a rest day, 2025 Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh made her first appearance in this edition of the Women’s Olympics.However, the women’s team had a far more comfortable exit, beating Finland 3.5-0.5. Vaishali Rameshbabu drew but Divya, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri all won to round out the dominant score.India will look to maintain their winning streak on Friday when the men’s team takes on Italy and the women’s team takes on Greece.