Chess Olympiad Round 5: Praggnanandhaa outwits Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri for first win; Vaishali’s defeat capped a mixed day for India

Praggnanandhaa Dutch outwits #1 Anish Giri (Photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE) NEW DELHI: When it was finally revealed that Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa would be playing Board 1, meaning he would face the toughest opposition – like his opponent in Anish Giri in India’s match against the Netherlands on Sunday – at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, many raised eyebrows at the world champion ranked in Dommaraj 4 to Gurke. However, no one questioned Praggnanandha’s mandate to lead the supreme board.The Chennai-born Grandmaster has been in excellent form since a stunning campaign at the Cypriot Candidates earlier this year. He defeated world number one Magnus Carlsen twice on his way to victory in Norwegian chess and last month did something that would have seemed unthinkable a few months ago, winning the Grand Chess Tour final, becoming only the seventh player and the first Indian to do so in the event’s 11-year history.His run has been so impressive that even five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, in an interview with TimesofIndia.com, did not think twice before admitting: “I think I would say he is the number one player in the world at the moment.”After resting on the opening day, drawing Arjun Erigaisi and losing to lower-ranked Thai opponent Prin Laohawirapap, Praggnanandhaa began his task on Board 1 on Day 2, but managed just three draws in the next three rounds.On Sunday, his opponent was the Dutch No.1 as India were seeded against the Netherlands in the 5th round.

How Praggnanandhaa tricked Anish Giri

Praggnanandhaa, playing for white, got the better of Giri in a long, rough game that started as Ruy Lopez.He built up constant pressure in the middle while Giri took his time to work in the middle game. The position heated up when Praggnanandhaa allowed his own pawn structure to be damaged in exchange for a tactical strike that won him the exchange and traded the bishop for Giri’s rook on b8.Giri fought back with some activity of his own, but Praggnanandhaa’s pieces remained better coordinated throughout.The queen trade led to a tricky endgame with a rook and a small piece, where Giri’s passed pawn on the c-file gave him some practical chances.Praggnanandhaa dealt with it calmly and used his rook to catch a pawn at the right moment and shut down Black’s counterplay for good.From there, his rook and knight took control of the board, with the passed a-pawn adding pressure. With time running out for Giri, Praggnanandhaa converted the position with confidence to claim his first win of the tournament.Elsewhere, Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin both drew their matches but Gukesh, despite the lower plate, beat the experienced Erwin L’Ami to help India wrap up the match 3-1 against the Netherlands.

First defeat for the women’s team, again against Poland

The picture was much less rosy for the Indian women, who lost to Poland by a narrow margin, making it India’s third straight Olympic defeat to a Polish side after losses in 2022 (Chennai) and 2024 (Budapest).The blow fell to Vaishali Rameshbaba, Praggnanandha’s sister, while the other three boards held a draw.IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya played white in the London system and achieved an impressive victory over Vaishali.Black soon adopted a slightly weakened kingside structure, then tried to counter by aggressively pushing the pawns forward after both sides occupied the opposite wings.Malcevskaja responded, activating her pieces and forcing Vaishali onto the back foot. Her rook made it to turn seven, and once the queens came off the board, her active rooks and advancing pawns proved too much.Vaishali tried to create some late counterplay with her own rooks, but Maltsevskaya’s h-pawn kept marching forward and constantly threatened to raise, which eventually opened up the position. Vaishali retired after 57 moves.This saw the Indian women lose 1.5–2.5 with Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal drawing their individual matches.India take on hosts Uzbekistan, one of the favorites to win the tournament, in the open section on Monday, while the women’s team takes on the USA in what promises to be a fiery clash.