CHENNAI: D Gukesh removed his gloves, picked up a knife and prepared an ambush. In an endgame that lasted more than a session in a Test match — the match itself went on almost six hours — the teen was a machine to wear down Wei Yi to give India an immense win over China, one of the principal competitors to India’s quest for global gold in the Open section of the Olympiad. The win meant India won 2.5-1.5 to give them a perfect 14 from 14 after seven rounds.
Thirty minutes before Gukesh’s own heroics, R Vaishali and Vantika Agrawal placed their major pieces on the lawns of their Georgian opponents and reaped major rewards as the Indian women’s team took a giant step towards global glory. Coming into the seventh round as sole leaders on 12 match points, one clear of Georgia and Poland, handed out a big beating to go to 14 points after seven matches.
The two architects of the win were Agrawal and Vaishali, both of whom were extremely calm under varying levels of pressure, after Divya Deshmukh and D Harika drew their games. Agrawal, facing the heat because of immense time pressure, switched to rapid mode while slowly increasing her advantage. Slowly but surely, the engine rated Agrawal as completely winning and the experienced Bella Khotenashvili knew game was up. Vaishali’s game lasted a bit longer but she showed the same calculation nous.
No Ding for China
The drama began even before a move was made after Ding Liren sat out. Instead, Gukesh faced Wei in the Hungarian capital on Wednesday. He had already seen R Praggnanandhaa draw with black pieces against Yu Yangyi, while Arjun Erigaisi, India’s best rated player but playing on Board 3, was potentially facing a first draw of the event after six straight wins.
Usually, the team’s best rated players play on Board 1, the second best-rated player feature on Board 2 and so on. India’s open team, though, opted for the more aggressive approach. “In general, everyone in the team were of the attitude that ‘we will do whatever is in the best interests of the team’,” said captain Srinath Narayanan when he was explaining the rationale behind the Board orders. “Therefore, it was pretty easy to get the team aligned together.”
With more than half of the event done, it’s worked out pretty well. The Open team, one of the favourites for gold, are enjoying the view from the top. On the eve of the match against China, they had sole lead, with 12 match points after six rounds, one whole point clear of Vietnam, China and Iran.
When Narayanan, who has worked extensively with Erigaisi in the past, was asked to explain how the team has jumped past obstacles, the GM said, “I think the players have simply played stronger so far, not in any particular department, but in terms of practical play.”
The Indian Open team, unlike some of the other leading contenders, are unique in the sense of their age. While a lot of the frontrunners have players in their 30s, older but more experienced, the Indian side are inexperienced, relatively speaking, but are fresher.
“The players are young, but it will also help them to take a pause and recharge their batteries and get back to playing at their highest intensity levels,” Narayanan said.