Chess Olympiad: Indians crush Uzbekistan-2, women draw with China

World champion D Gukesh, CEOs Nihal Sarin and R Praggnanandhaa once again showed the way as Indian men cruised to a comprehensive 3.5-0.5 victory over Uzbekistan-2 in the 10th and penultimate round of the 46th Chess Olympiad here.

B Savitha Shri ensured the Indian women survived some anxious moments before settling for a 2-2 draw with leaders China to keep their hopes alive.

It was Savitha Shri’s eighth win of the tournament, at the expense of Zhai Mo, and the Indian picked up a staggering 8.5 points from her nine games.

Meanwhile, in the open section, Uzbekistan-1 continued to stay ahead with 18 points after another comprehensive victory against Armenia. The Uzbeks also claimed a 3.5-0.5 win and look invincible at the moment.

The 17th-ranked Indians are second and well placed to win the silver medal. However, to repeat their gold medal performance from the last Olympics, they need a decent win and also hope that Uzbekistan lose their match.

In the women’s section, the Chinese also scored 18 points, a full point ahead of Kazakhstan, who moved into second place after beating France 2.5-1.5. The Indians are in third place with 16 points.

Nihal Sarin was the first to score a match win against Uzbekistan-2 as the Indian grabbed a pair of pawns early with his black pieces to force matters against Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov.

GM Gukesh was up next as Ortik Nigmatov didn’t match and Arjun meanwhile drew on the other board.

Praggnanandhaa eventually scored through Jakhongir Vakhidov to complete the victory.

Open results: Uzbekistan-1 (18) beat Armenia (15) 3.5-0.5; India (17) beat Uzbekistan-2 (15) 3.5-0.5 (R Praggnanandhaa beat Jakhongir Vakhidov; Arjun Erigaisi drew with Abdimalik Abdisalimov; Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov lost to Nihal Sarin; Ortik NIgmatov lost to D Gukesh).

Women’s results: China (18) drew with India (16) 2-2; Koneru Humpa tied with Zhu Jiner; Divya Deshmukh tied with Song Yuxin; Vantika Agrawal lost to Lu Miaoyi; B Savitha Shri defeated Zhai Mo; Kazakhstan (17) defeated France 2.5-1.5; Mongolia (15) lost to Poland (16) 1:3; Vietnam (16) defeated Indonesia (14) 2.5-1.5.

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