Chess Olympiad Round 6: How Nihal Sarin misplaced his queen and India suffered heartbreaking loss to Uzbekistan

Nihal Sarin at the Chess Olympiad (Photo by Michal Walusza from FIDE) NEW DELHI: Open team India took on hot favorites and tournament hosts Uzbekistan in Round 6 of the 46th Samarkand Chess Olympiad on Monday.Anticipation for this matchup has been building since the start of the tournament, perhaps because the two nations have won the last two Olympics between them, or because Dommaraju Gukesh will face Javokhir Sindarov at the World Championship later this year, or simply because they are two of the most powerful chess nations on the planet right now.After five rounds, India got on the board sitting in the top group, tied with Uzbekistan and Germany at the top of the table, which only added to the stakes. Captain Srinath Narayanan therefore fielded the strongest line-up, with Praggnanandhaa at No.1, Arjun Erigaisi at No.2, Nihal Sarin at No.3 and Gukesh at No.4.Vidit Gujrathi subsequently had a rest day which made him part of the ChessBase India commentary team at the venue for a while.His eyes lit up when Nodirbek Yakubboev, playing White, pushed 35.f4 against Nihal. With every other board on the day ending in a draw or headed for a draw, this was the only game left with a winner.Nihal responded with 35…e3 and Vidita’s eyes just lit up. Yakubboev’s 36.fxg5+ put India in a really promising position.But then came a sequence that no Indian fan would want to see — 36…Kxg5 37.g3 Nf5.Vidit sensed Nihal, sensing a clear advantage, was caught off guard at that moment and pushed a little too hard. Soon after, his queen was captured (40.Qxc7) and the entire commentary panel, including Vidit, could only put their hands on their heads.The disappointment was more palpable because Nihal still had plenty of time in class. It wasn’t a case of a time crunch forcing a mistake, just a dangling piece missing the winning position in the heat of the moment. But it is what it was.Amidst all this activity, Nihal’s queen on c7 was left completely unprotected. Yakubboev’s 40.Qxc7 simply took it for free.From a position where Black had a real chance of winning just a few moves earlier, the game turned completely in White’s favor and Yakubboev turned the resulting material advantage into a full point without much resistance.It proved decisive. With Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi and Gukesh drawing their games on the other three boards, Nihal’s loss was the difference. Uzbekistan won the match 2.5-1.5, handing India their first team defeat in the Open Section tournament.

Indian women back to winning ways

The Indian women, on the other hand, after defeating Poland in the 5th round, comfortably beat the United States 3:1 in the office.Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh both drew their matches against more pedigree opposition in Carissa Yip and Alice Lee, but the gap went further down the order as Vantika Agrawal beat the experienced Irina Krush and Savitha Shri got the better of Rose Atwell.Tuesday is the tournament’s only scheduled rest day, a timely break for the Indian open side after a result that will sting more for how close it came the other way than for any actual damage on the scoreboard.Play continues on Wednesday in Round 7, with India’s open team taking on England and the women’s team taking on Germany.