Chess Olympiad Round 9: D Gukesh channels world champion composure, cancels near-miss to keep India in gold hunt

India’s Gukesh dominates (photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE) NEW DELHI: Ever since he became world champion two years ago, Dommaraju Gukesh has been dogged by noise almost everywhere, leaving him at times feeling undeserving of the title he has rightfully won.But on Friday, when India needed the youngest-ever world champion to win, he did just that and turned around a near-lost position to beat Germany’s Alexander Donchenko in the ninth round of the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.It was the kind of performance that alone managed to silence the critics.

How Gukesh turned the tables on Donchenko

Gukesh, playing black, traded his knight with dark squares early to damage the white pawn structure, and then spent the middle game patiently maneuvering, moving knights, expanding on the queen with a5-a4, and looking for weaknesses without rushing.For a long time the position remained unclear and roughly balanced, both sides shuffling pieces and neither able to land a clear blow.It was just before the time control that things got dangerous for Gukesh. Donchenko doubled his rooks on the e-file and moved one up to e6, taking direct aim at Black’s king, who was forced to move to f7 just in case.Gukesh had to defend precisely while trying to create his own kingside counterplay and push his h- and g-pawns forward to cause complications. It was a position where one careless move could end the game in White’s favor.Gukesh held his nerve. As the pawn storms and piece trades settled, he found a way to activate his queen and knight while the white pieces fell out of coordination.The Chennai-born grandmaster found a great move with 51…Nf4. The German threw out Gukesh’s knight with 52.Rxf4, but Donchenko’s bishop was left hanging on c3; Gukesh’s queen swooped down to capture him, and from there it was a matter of technique.A check with his queen forced Donchenko’s king into an impossible position and White resigned rather than play a piece down with an exposed king.Elsewhere on the board, Nihal Sarin, playing for white, spent most of his game in some confusion against Frederik Svane, but held firm for a draw.With Gukesh’s win already piled up, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi also didn’t have to push themselves and settled for a draw against Vincent Keymer and Matthias Bluebaum. India closed the match 2.5-1.5.With the win, India moved to 15 points, still one point behind hosts Uzbekistan, who defeated the United States on Friday to stay ahead.

Vantika, Divya lead Indian women to victory

The Indian women’s team also had a productive Friday as Vantika Agrawal and Divya Deshmukh secured important wins to seal the match against Uzbekistan.Vantika, playing white against Nilufarkhon Imomkuzieva, took the early pawn with a sharp tactical sequence; a check with her queen forced Black’s king to surrender material before the middle game had properly begun.She took that small material advantage with a long technical battle and moved into the rook endgame, where her extra pawn and more active king proved decisive.Vantika, pushing her kingside pawns forward in the closing stages, finally broke through and Imomkuzieva had no chance of holding the position together.Divya Deshmukh’s match against Gulrukhbegi Tokhirjonova was much longer and more chaotic.Both sides acquired the material early. Tokhirjonov’s knight picked up a pawn on b7 just as Divya’s queen picked up a stray piece on d2, leaving the position roughly even but sharp.What ensued was a marathon battle through the middle game and into the complex endgame of rook, knight and bishop, with both players navigating complex technical positions deep into the game.Divya’s technique held up better in the long run and after 73 hard-fought moves there was nothing left for Tokhirjonova to stop Black’s advancing king and she resigned the position.These two results were enough to see India through the match and keep the team firmly in the mix for a medal.The Indian women are currently second in the standings with 15 points, behind the well-prepared Chinese with 17.With two rounds to go, India’s gold hopes now depend largely on China slipping up, but on Friday’s evidence, neither Indian team looked like they wanted to make it easy for anyone chasing them. READ ALSO: Juggling Chess Olympiad Prep and Commentary Gig in India: The Other Side of America’s Only GM Irina KrushIn the Open section, India will face Uzbekistan 2, while the women’s team will take on China in the penultimate round of the Chess Olympiad.