Time flies. It has been two years since those beautiful images from Budapest caught India’s imagination — the country’s young chess players, men and women, posing for photographs after their twin success at the Chess Olympiad. It was one of the country’s greatest days in its sporting history.

Chess Olympiad is an event as huge and competitive as the name suggests. It is even huger this time.

The 46th edition of the biggest team event in chess — it is like tennis’ Davis Cup or badminton’s Thomas Cup — starts in Samarkand on Wednesday.

In the fray are 208 in the open section and 191 in the women’s.

India is certainly among the favourites in both categories, despite some changes in the squads and the big dip in form of one of the key players.

There is no denying the fact that the way D. Gukesh has struggled after becoming the youngest World champion has raised concerns. That, however, doesn’t mean he cannot regain his form.

Remember, he was an absolute beast for India in the last two Olympiads. He was brilliant against some of the world’s strongest players and won the individual gold medal.

Gukesh may not be going into the Olympiad in perfect shape, but R. Praggnanandhaa is. He has been winning just about everything. India also banks heavily on Arjun Erigaisi. Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi complete the team.

The host Uzbekistan, which features two of the world’s best young players in Javokhir Sindarov (Gukesh’s opponent in the upcoming World title match), and the United States, the top seed, could be India’s strongest rivals. The Indian men are seeded second.

The women are seeded first. The return of Koneru Humpy, one of the best players of all time in the women’s game, has strengthened the team. Her class and experience should help. She hadn’t played in Budapest, and told The Hindu how excited she was to play in this Olympiad and help her team defend the title.

India needs Divya Deshmukh and R. Vaishali, two young women who have been gaining in strength, to perform well, too. Vantika Agrawal should be hoping for another solid show for India while the 19-year-old B. Savitha Shri is making her debut.

India could face strong challenges from the likes of Georgia, Kazakhstan and China.

The tournament, to be played over 11 rounds in the Swiss system, concludes on September 27.

At the Global Chess League, the margin for error can be thin. So thin, it doesn’t exist.

M. Pranesh and Abhimanyu Mishra found that out in excruciating fashion at the Lalit Ashok on Tuesday.

Pranesh was in a completely winning position against Nihal Sarin, but he overlooked a simple checkmate and lost. Pranesh, however, had the consolation that his team, Cheq Mumba Masters, won the match against Fyers American Gambits 11-6.

Abhimanyu’s misfortune against Leon Mendonca proved costly, though. His team, PBG Alaskan Knights, lost to Ganges Grandmasters, 8-12. Abhimanyu was placed for a win in his game that would have given his team a match victory. However, when he promoted his pawn, in the time scramble, he put the queen on the wrong square after the capture.

Mendonca claimed it was an illegal move and the arbiter reset the clock, which left Abhimanyu to replay the capture and queening in one second. That wasn’t humanly possible. So, he lost on time, as did his team.

The day’s other matches weren’t as dramatic, though there was plenty of excitement.

Four on top

At the end of it all, as many as four teams shared the top spot. At the half-way mark, defending champion Alpine APL Pipers — despite a 4-10 loss to Kings — Mumba, Grandmasters and Gambits have all nine match points each.

Pipers and Mumba are tied on games points, too – 47 each. Ganges is on 47 and Gambits, which has played a match more, on 52.

The results: Ganges Grandmasters bt PBG Alaskan Knights 12-8 (Ian Nepomniachtchi bt Viswanathan Anand; Levon Aronian lost to Arjun Erigaisi; Leinier Dominguez bt Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus; Polina Shuvalova bt Kateryna Lagno; Stavroula Tsolakidou lost to Nino Batsiashvili; Leon Mendonca bt Abhimanyu Mishra).

Fyers American Gambits lost to Cheq Mumba Masters 6-11 (Javokhir Sindarov drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Nihal Sarin bt M. Pranesh; Daniil Dubov lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov; Bibisara Assaubayeva drew with D. Harika; Sarasadat Khademalsharieh lost to Carissa Yip; MarcAndria Maurizzi drew with Bardiya Daneshvar).

Triveni Continental Kings bt Alpine APL Pipers 10-4 (Alireza Firouzja drew with Magnus Carlsen; Wei Yi drew with Anish Giri; Aravindh Chithambaram bt Vidit Gujrathi; Zhu Jiner drew with Divya Deshmukh; Alexandra Kosteniuk drew with Koneru Humpy; V. Pranav bt Volodar Murzin).

Alaskan Knights lost to American Gambits 9-12 (Anand lost to Sindarov; Arjun lost to Nihal; Erdogmus bt Dubov; Lagno bt Assaubayeva; Batsiashvili bt Sarasadat; Abhimanyu lost to Maurizzi).

Cricket met chess on Sunday night. Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, who has played for India in both short formats, took on the World No. 4 Javokhir Sindarov in a game of chess.

After the match against the Uzbek, played at RCB Bar & Cafe, Venkatesh said: “I got the opportunity to play with the world’s No. 4 chess player. I managed to survive five minutes without losing.”

Sindarov, who will challenge India’s D. Gukesh for the World championship this year, is in the city for the Global Chess League, in which he is playing for Fyers American Gambits. He was joined by his teammates Daniil Dubov, Nihal Sarin, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, and MarcAndria Maurizzi.

Venkatesh also spoke of Bengaluru’s passion for multiple sports. “I’ve been to a lot of cities in the country, but the love for sports here is just amazing, and it goes well beyond cricket,” he said.

“Whether it is football, athletics, chess, pickleball or paddle, people here take their sport seriously, both in playing and supporting it.”

There was also an exchange of shirts between RCB and American Gambits.

Camaraderie among the members of the Indian squad will help in the Olympiad title defence, Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa said while expressing confidence of a strong show.

The 20-year-old said the team was strong and had the experience to handle the pressure of being the defending champion. He said the core of the team from the winning campaign in 2024 was same time except for Nihal Sarin replacing P. Harikrishna.

“I think we are all very good friends. Being friends helps a lot when you are playing a team event like the Olympiad,” he told The Hindu on the sidelines of an event at D.G. Vaishnav College here.

Asked if there would be huge pressure on India as the title-holder, Praggnanandhaa said, “there will always be pressure when you are representing the country. You want to do well. It’s not about pressure from outside. It’s more of an expectation from yourself that you will do well. We have experienced all this and are ready.”

Backing Gukesh

About World champion D. Gukesh’s below-par performances since winning the sport’s biggest prize, Praggnanandhaa said, “he has won gold (board prize) and been part of a victorious Olympiad campaign. I don’t know who else has done these things.”

“He has shown that he belongs at the top. Sometimes everyone has these bad phases. I think this is just one of those,” he added.

He expected the home team Uzbekistan with Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Gukesh’s challenger Javokhir Sindarov in the line-up, to be among the teams to beat in the Olympiad.

A draw was enough for Alireza Firouzja in the seventh and final round of the Chennai Grand Masters on Wednesday as the Frenchman walked away with the title in a strong field.

Firouzja’s 41-move stalemate also ended his opponent Arjun Erigaisi’s chances of fighting for first place. The loss suffered by Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov at the hands of Dmitry Andreikin (Russia) cleared the path for Firouzja as the 23-year-old emerged champion with 4.5 points.

Andreikin proved to be the surprise packet, taking the runner-up spot with four points after remaining unbeaten (six draws and one win).

Firouzja, who didn’t lose a game through the week, received ₹25 lakh for his title-winning effort while Arjun took the third spot, followed by Abdusattorov and M. Pranesh. World champion D. Gukesh held Hans Niemann to a draw and finished with the wooden spoon (two points).

He narrowly avoided slipping out of the 2700-club, thanks to the stalemate against his American opponent; the 20-year-old, who had lost his previous two games, settled for a quick draw as the contest ended in 19 moves.

Nihal Sarin, who began with four straight draws, appeared to lose steam towards the business end and wound up with 3.5 points despite a well-crafted win against Arjun in the penultimate round. The fifth-place finish was a creditable performance by Pranesh, the lowest-rated player in the event who handed Gukesh a shock defeat.

The results: D. Gukesh 2 drew with Hans Niemann (USA) 3; Nihal Sarin 3.5 drew with M. Pranesh 3.5; Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 4.5 drew with Arjun Erigaisi 4; Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) 4 beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 3.5.

Final placings: 1. Firouzja, 2. Andreikin, 3. Arjun, 4. Abdusattorov, 5. Pranesh, 6. Nihal, 7. Niemann, 8. Gukesh.

Alireza Firouzja got off to a winning start, dismantling M. Pranesh in a longish game, at the Chennai Grand Masters chess tournament at Hotel Westin Velachery on Thursday.

The Frenchman, entering the event in good nick after a title-winning run in the Grand Chess Tour-Croatia leg, wore down the young Indian in a 79-move game. He had to dig deep as the match went into the fifth hour before taking the point with black pieces. The Frenchman emerged with a slight edge from a Sicilian Defence before Pranesh’s 36th move allowed him a breakthrough.

The 23-year-old Firouzja was the only winner on the opening day as World champion D. Gukesh was held by compatriot Nihal Sarin while Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the highest-rated player in the tournament, split the point with USA’s Hans Moke Niemann and local hope Arjun Erigaisi shared honours with Russian Dmitry Andreikin.

Abdusattorov held firm despite coming under pressure from Niemann for a major part of the game.

The Gukesh-Nihal encounter saw the former, playing with white pieces, finding himself in time trouble in the middle before emerging unscathed. The Chennai GM, playing in the city for the first time since his epochal triumph, ensured a stalemate in 47 moves once he neutralised Nihal’s advantage.

Arjun and Andreikin signed the peace treaty after 42 moves. The Russian found counter-play against the exposed white king and forced a draw through a succession of queen checks.

The results (first round): Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) drew with Hans Niemann (USA), Arjun Erigaisi drew with Dmitry Andreikin (Rus), M. Pranesh lost to Alireza Firouzja (Fra), D. Gukesh drew with Nihal Sarin.