'There are sometimes just blind spots in chess': Nihal Sarin looks back on his Chess Olympiad loss to Uzbekistan

Nihal Sarin reflects on his Chess Olympiad loss to Uzbekistan NEW DELHI: World champion Dommaraju Gukesh patiently watched the match between his compatriot Nihal Sarin and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev in the 6th round of the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand.The next three boards had already ended in draws, with Nihal’s result resting on Gukesh’s own play against Shamsiddin Vokhidov, which meant the whole match and India’s chance to overtake the hosts at the top of the table.For a while it looked like it would go India’s way. After 35 moves, Nihal has built up a really promising position.Then came the sequence that canceled it, a mistake that gave away his queen. Gukesh, who had been a silent observer all this time, looked as if he could not believe what he had just seen. As he turned to leave, he buried his face in his hands in disbelief before turning back to the board for one last look. He ran his hand over his face again and left, visibly upset.India lost the match against a team that would have won the tournament outright.After more than a week, the Indian chess circuit is still replaying what could have happened if that moment had played out differently. Nihal, who is now back in India, took TimesofIndia.com through the entire Samarkand experience.

The moment itself

Nihal started the campaign well with three consecutive wins and then two draws in the opening rounds before the match against Uzbekistan turned things around.“It was really unlucky against Uzbekistan,” he recalled, playing for black that day. “Against Indonesia I was actually completely losing at one point – there are a lot of what-ifs in these events, but that’s the way it is. Unfortunately against Uzbekistan, it didn’t go my way. I played a really good game but I made a very unfortunate mistake. It proved to be too costly.”Against Indonesia, Nihal was India’s lone winner, saving the match and ensuring the team did not lose points.Apart from the result against Uzbekistan itself, Nihal was left with the fact that he had no idea what he was missing out on at the time.“No, not at all,” he answered when asked if he immediately noticed the mistake against Jakubboev. “That was a weird thing. Generally, when you miss something like that, you at least notice it after you make the move. But I didn’t really notice it until he made the move, which is pretty unusual.”The realization came only with Yakubboev’s answer.“It was only when he played 38.Ne6 that I realized what I had done wrong. It’s a surprisingly simple tactic; perhaps a bit unusual, but quite simple regardless,” he added.

Gukesh and Srinath also missed it

And Nihal was not the only one from his team to miss the sequence as the Kerala-born grandmaster revealed, “The funny thing was that Gukesh was watching the match. He was in the hall. Apparently he missed it completely too. Our captain Srinath (Narayanan) also missed it.“It was a bit strange because of course I should see it; generally we should all see it. But sometimes there are just deaf spots. It’s a bit strange. It’s a pretty simple tactic, but all three of us missed it completely. I don’t know. It was strange.”Even the commentary booth, armed with engines, almost let it slip. Vidit Gujrathi, present on the ChessBase India comment panel that day, also failed to notice the whole sequence.“Vidit told me that he was in the commentary room and also saw it only when the engine pointed it out in one variant,” revealed Nihal. “A lot of people didn’t see it, which is a little strange considering it’s not the hardest tactic. Sometimes in chess there are just these blind spots. It’s very hard to explain, but it happens.”This remained a talking point within the camp even afterwards.“It’s just a weird thing. Sometimes things slip a little inexplicably. We’re all pretty strong grandmasters and almost all of us have had something slip up. It’s very hard to explain,” added the 22-year-old grandmaster.

He’s pulling himself back together

The team’s loss that day made the consequences more severe than a single bad result might otherwise have been.“Of course it was really difficult, especially because the team also lost a very important match. But it was very important to have the support of the team and my coach,” continued Nihal. “The team was very nice. Everyone was telling me to keep my head up. I was actually playing a very good game up until that point. It happens and we’ve all been in that situation.”Guilt, he said, was something he had to actively resist, rather than something that simply faded away.“It’s also very difficult not to feel responsible, but you have to remember that we win and lose as a team. It’s not an individual thing. We’ve all been in this situation so we understand,” he added.

What ifs and rejections are fun

Asked if he expects to one day look back and wonder if that one result cost India gold, Nihal’s answer was less about denial than how he chose to play sport in general.“Of course it’s possible. But there are simply no what-ifs in sports. Everything is very difficult to judge. It is the way it is. We just have to accept it,” he continued.“Against Indonesia we could have easily lost that game. And against Germany we were honestly completely cooked. Against Azerbaijan we had chances and then we drew. It’s very easy to fantasize about these what-ifs and it’s logical to think that way, but in the end I don’t think everything happens by chance – these moments create pressure.“Obviously winning the gold would be great, but credit to Uzbekistan, they all played amazing chess at a very high level and they thoroughly deserved it.”

First Olympics with a senior team

It was Nihal’s first Chess Olympiad with the main team. Now he has a silver medal and countless memories with it. “Of course, definitely, I would love to do it (Chess Olympics) again. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and everything,” he shared.“The general atmosphere was very, very nice. I personally enjoyed it a lot. It’s also very nice to see so many people from so many different parts of the world, which I don’t think you’ll see in any other tournament. You see so many players from so many places, some of whom we might not even have heard of. It’s very interesting.”Summing up the overall experience, he added: “I think the team performance was very good. We all played pretty good chess. I think none of us were at our best for sure. But we still managed to play some really good games and everyone stepped up when it mattered most.”

What’s next for Nihal Sarin

Nihal has little time to dwell on the “ifs” and “buts” of the Chess Olympiad. “I plan to play in the European Club Cup in Montenegro, which starts on October 17. After that I don’t know. But yes, there will definitely be a break and I’m really looking forward to it.”READ ALSO: ‘If India won a medal, we owe it’: Swayams captain Mishra on Chess Olympiad heroics Savitha Shri | ExclusiveNot much of a globetrotter, Nihal reveals what relaxation means to him, adding: “There’s a tennis club near my home and I go there almost every day. It really helps. It’s very good exercise and I think it also helps you feel good mentally.”