There was no repeat of the glory of Budapest, but India’s men and women managed to climb the podium nevertheless.

India had arrived in Samarkand as the defending champion in both the open and women’s sections of the Chess Olympiad. In 2024, India had indeed created history with a show that underlined its status as a powerhouse in the mind game.

So the expectations about India retaining both the crowns were high. And the country had players to do the job. Yes, there were concerns about the form of D. Gukesh. But, the World champion opted to play on the fourth board, and not on the first, which he did at Budapest and before that at home in Chennai (Mamallapuram) in 2022.

He was brilliant in both those tournaments and won the individual gold medal, too. He clinched silver this time around, and contributed significantly to his team. A loss in the final round, in the match against Hungary notwithstanding, he showed what he is capable of.

With his World title match against Javokhir Sindarov coming up in a couple of months’ time, he should be in a better frame of mind now than he was before the Olympiad got underway.

Another player from Chennai, B. Savitha Shri, must be feeling even better. She won individual gold as the reserve player and remained unbeaten. More importantly, she struck for the women’s team almost as if on demand. She would either win or at least draw whenever her team needed.

Divya with the inaugural Best Chess Player (Female) award.
| Photo Credit:
FIDE

It is no small feat to win eight out of the 10 games at an Olympiad. Savitha has always shown promise. Now she seems to be ready for bigger things. This could be a turning point in her career.

Savitha wasn’t the only member of the Indian women’s team to win an individual medal. Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh and the often underrated Vantika Agrawal also excelled on their respective boards. The only one to miss out was R. Vaishali.

Her younger brother R. Praggnanandhaa claimed bronze in the open section. He had the difficult task of playing on the top board. But the Indian team management’s decision to assign him for the games against the strongest players at the Olympiad was hardly surprising. He had been in fantastic form.

But, it wasn’t the perfect Olympiad for him. Just as it wasn’t for India, but that is because the bar keeps rising for Indian chess.

She was a wisp of a girl when she faced Magnus Carlsen in a simultaneous display ahead of the Norwegian’s World championship match against Viswanathan Anand in the city back in 2013.

B. Savitha Shri has come a long way since and is currently among the top Indian women chess players. A bronze medallist at the World Rapid championship in 2022, the 19-year-old WGM is making the right moves at the ongoing Olympiad in Samarkand.

She has been the star performer, winning all four games on the fourth board before being rested for Sunday’s fifth-round match against Poland.

The Chennai player, who trains under R.B. Ramesh, said the coach had been a great support and helped her make giant strides. “He (Ramesh sir) analyses games and offers psychological support. We work a lot on the middle and end-game,” Savitha Shri had told The Hindu.

On his part, Ramesh said, “Over the board, she does the most practical things without much hesitation when most players would hesitate.” The work put in with the acclaimed coach appears to be paying off at the Olympiad, and there is no one happier than her father Krishnan Baskar.

The teenager said World championship challenger R. Vaishali was like an “elder sister” and was always ready to help. “I approach Vaishali akka whenever I have any doubt. She gives me advice and I look up to her.”

Having matched wits with someone who would go on to become one of the greatest-ever, Savitha Shri is now holding her own against the game’s elite as she aims for the sky.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave believes the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand could be crucial for D. Gukesh in the defence of his World title. The Chennai Grandmaster will be taking on Javokhir Sindarov in the championship match in Geneva later this year.

The Olympiad, the ultimate World team event in chess, gets underway on September 15 in Uzbekistan, Sindarov’s home country.

“If Gukesh can capitalise on the confidence he has from his previous two Olympiads, in which he had excellent performances, and comes up with a great show again, he could suddenly go into the World championship in a much better mood,” Vachier-Lagrave told The Hindu. “I think it would be very helpful for him if he gets a little bit of confidence back.”

MVL, as the Frenchman is better known in chess circles, feels Gukesh needs a break to be certain that he could be at his best again. “He has been struggling a little bit with his results, but he has also been experimenting and got maybe too much out of his comfort zone,” the 35-year-old said. “He is a formidable opponent. I remember some really good clashes with him.”

Sindarov may be viewed by many as the clear favourite, but there isn’t any for Vachier-Lagrave. “You have two very strong young players who will be fighting it out,” said Vachier-Lagrave, who is playing for Cheq Mumba Masters in the Global Chess League here.

“At the last World championship, Gukesh was coming in really strong and Ding Liren looked like he couldn’t play chess. But, suddenly Gukesh was under pressure.”

MVL has his own World championship to look forward to. He is part of the pilot edition of the newly launched Total Chess World Championship Tour. “It is very exciting. I am glad to compete in it,” he said.

If the India Open team is to replicate its near-perfect Chess Olympiad 2024 campaign, it will take some doing.  

India will have the ‘defending champion’ tag attached to it throughout the global competition in Samarkand in September and will be expected to deliver another strong show. But captain N. Srinath stressed that his squad will not carry any “baggage”, saying that it will begin from square one just like any other team. 

“We will not do that (put themselves under pressure for being the reigning champ); we are all professionals. We start from zero this time. But we will definitely look to have the positive team spirit which we had in the last Olympiad. We will continue to have fun,” Srinath said on the sidelines of the just-concluded Chennai Grand Masters here. 

The non-playing leader is optimistic about retaining the crown despite the indifferent form of some of his squad members. World champion D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin make up the playing contingent.

“I am pretty confident that we will do excellently. Before the last Olympiad, we never thought that we would win the way we did. We will have the same approach, but we will know about the form of our players only after the first few rounds. So, it is hard to say which team will set the standards. Host Uzbekistan, the USA and China will be among the top challengers, but we have an excellent chance,” Srinath added. Will his players walk the talk?

The Indian squads: Open: D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin; captain: N. Srinath. Women: Koneru Humpy, R. Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and B. Savitha Shri; captain: Swayams Mishra.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov has good memories of Chennai. He was at the forefront of Uzbekistan’s spectacular run in the chess Olympiad in nearby Mamallapuram in 2022, with his defeat of D. Gukesh on the top board ensuring the gold for his team.

Abdusattorov is back in the city for the Chennai Grand Masters tournament and is more than happy to return. The 21-year-old Uzbek, who is part of a group of rising stars from the Central Asian republic, said he was looking forward to the match against the World champion but wasn’t focussing only on it.

“This tournament is very short. In some rounds, anything can happen, because it’s a very young field,” the former World Rapid champion said in an interaction.

Abdusattorov has slipped under the radar in recent times with his compatriot Javokhir Sindarov stealing the spotlight with a triumph in last year’s World Cup in Goa before dominating the field in the Candidates to set up a World championship match against Gukesh.

He said he would help Sindarov in his preparation for the title clash. “I had joined his training camp for a week before the Candidates. For the upcoming World championship match, for sure, I will be part of his team. I will be training with him. From my perspective, he’s my friend, he’s close to me, and I will do my best to help him,” Abdusattorov said.

It is not common for chess players to have friendships, especially with rivals, but the young Uzbek superstars seem to be different.

The Abdusattorov-Sindarov friendship could be crucial as Uzbekistan aims to win the Olympiad gold to be held back home in Samarkand.