Led by R Praggnanandhaa on the top board and world champion D Gukesh on the fourth, the Indian men scored an emphatic 3-1 victory over Holland but the Indian 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 the most the Indian came up with a fine game to beat in-form Anish Giri while Gukesh put it across Erwin l’Ami to score his fourth win in five games.
On the second board, Arjun Erigaisi played out a draw with Jorden Van Foreest, while Nihal Sarin did not face many hurdles and drew with Loek Van Wely on the third.
With their fifth victory on the trot, the Indian men kept their date with the second consecutive gold in the Olympiad having won the previous edition held at Budapest in 2024.
In the shocker of the day, top seeded USA went down against a well-rounded German performance with Frederik Svane scoring the lone victory over Hans Moke Niemann on the third board. Vincent Keymer drew with Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum held Wesley So while Alexander Donchenko signed the piece against Levon Aronian.
Meanwhile, the Uzbekistan team came up with an inspired effort to beat eighth seed Hungary 4-0 in what was probably the most dominating effort of the day. The Uzbeks along with Germany and India now share the pole position on ten match points apiece.
For the top ranked Indian women, it was a heartbreak as R Vaishali lost to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya on the second board, while the other three games ended in draws. This resulted in a loss with minimal margin of 1.5-2.5 for the Indian eves and it remains to be seen how they bounce back with six rounds still remaining in the biggest chess event of the world.
Praggnanandhaa opted for the closed Ruy Lopez as white against Giri who briefly held an advantage after sacrificing his rook for a minor. The Dutchman, however, threw it away in quick time landing in an inferior endgame. The Indian squeezed out a win in 58 moves.
Gukesh scored with black in 53 moves against L’Ami who made an optical blunder in a tenable position arising out of a Sicilian Rossolimo. Amidst high complexities thereafter, Gukesh reached a winning endgame showing a great intent and a massive urge to win the game.
Indian results round 5 open: India (10) beat Holland (8) 3-1: (R Praggnanandhaa beat Anish Giri; Arjun Erigaisi drew with Jorden Van Foreest; Nihal Sarin drew with Loek Van Wely; D Gukesh beat Erwin L’Ami).
Indian pairings round 5 women: India (8) lost to Poland (10): (Koneru Humpy drew with Oliwia Kiolbasa; R Vaishali lost to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya; Divya Deshmukh drew with Klaudia Kulon; Vantika Agrawal drew with Monika Socko).
– Ends
