Chess Olympiad: Indian men cruise 3-1 against Holland; women shocked by Poland

Led by R Praggnanandhaa on the top board and world champion D Gukesh on the fourth, the Indian men registered an emphatic 3-1 victory over Holland but India’s Eves were shocked by Poland in the fifth round of the 46th Chess Olympiad here.

Praggnanandhaa may have started with three draws against lower-ranked players, but when it mattered most, the Indian came up with a superb game to beat the in-form Anish Giri, while Gukesh put it past Erwin l’Ami to claim his fourth win in five matches.

On the second board, Arjun Erigaisi tied with Jorden Van Foreest, while Nihal Sarin didn’t face many obstacles and tied with Loek Van Wely for third.

With their fifth win on the trot, the Indian men kept their date with a second straight Olympic gold after winning the previous edition held in Budapest in 2024.

In the shocker of the day, the top-seeded USA fell against a well-rounded German performance. Frederik Svane scored the only win over Hans Mok Niemann on board three. Vincent Keymer drew with Fabian Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum held Wesley so while Alexander Donchenko signed a piece against Levon Aronian.

Meanwhile, the Uzbekistan team came up with an inspired effort to beat eighth-seeded Hungary 4-0 in what was arguably the most dominant effort of the day. The Uzbeks, along with Germany and India, now share pole position with ten match points.

It was heartbreaking for the top Indian women as R Vaishali lost to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya on the second board while the other three games ended in draws. This led to a narrow 1.5-2.5 loss for the Indian Eves and it remains to be seen how they will bounce back with six rounds remaining in the world’s biggest chess event.

Praggnanandhaa opted for a closed Ruy Lopez as white against Giri, who briefly had the advantage after sacrificing his rook for a minor. But the Dutchman threw it away in a quick time and landed in a worse ending. The Indian squeezed out the win in 58 moves.

Gukesh scored black in 53 moves against L’Amimo, who made an optical error in a tenable position arising from the Sicilian Rossolimo. Amid high complexity thereafter, Gukesh reached the winning end and showed great intent and immense desire to win the game.

India (10) beat Netherlands (8) 3-1: (R Praggnanandhaa beat Anish Giri; Arjun Erigaisi beat Jorden Van Foreest; Nihal Sarin beat Loek Van Wely; D Gukesh beat Erwin L’Ami).

Indian Pairs Women’s Round 5: India (8) lost to Poland (10): (Koneru Humpy drew with Olivia Kiolbasa; R Vaishali lost to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya; Divya Deshmukh drew with Klaudia Kulon; Vantika Agrawal drew with Monika Socko).

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

20 Sep 2026 22:54 IST