Not meeting one’s own standards is always disappointing. But such comparison should not weigh too heavily on Indian men’s and women’s chess teams after their performance at the Samarkand Olympiad over the last two weeks. The open team, anchored by R Praggnanandhaa, returned with silver. In the women’s discipline, led by the seasoned Koneru Humpy, they won a bronze. Sure, they were both defending champions from the Budapest Olympiad of 2024. But we must consider that chess has never been this competitive, featuring a wide global field filled with talented players.
For the open team, D Gukesh’s return to form—winning silver from Board 4—was indeed heartening. The world champion, who has been battling inconsistent form for over a year, buried his ego and opted to play on the lowest-ranked board. It served the dual purpose of giving India priceless wins while helping him rediscover his form barely two months before he is scheduled to defend his world title against Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov. Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa, who has been on a hot streak over the last few months, won a bronze on the top board.
Even more heartening was the women’s team’s feat. For almost two decades, women’s chess in India started and ended with Harika Dronavalli and Koneru Humpy. Now, a string of fresh talents have appeared, with the latest being Savitha Shri B, the International Master who won gold on the reserve board at Samarkand. When she was picked for the team, it seemed she would not get to play much. But her determination and eye-catching performance—eight wins and two draws—almost singlehandedly ensured that the team would return with at least a bronze, especially as R Vaishali showed a disappointing form. Add to the ranks 2025 FIDE World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal—both individual medal winners at Uzbekistan—and a robust ecosystem of the sport comes into picture.
With even more promising women’s players coming up the ranks, the future seems secure. It is also the best way to ensure a seamless generational transition and build a national lineage. When the country identified a golden generation of players after the pandemic, the building blocks were put in place for a strong foundation. The fruits of that are beginning to be visible.