Olympiad: India keep their winning run going

R Praggnanandhaa barely exuded a smile. He doesn’t get too animated or despondent based on the outcome of a match, but his demeanour clearly suggested that he had suffered a defeat. Except he hadn’t. He had just defeated Switzerland’s Yannick Pelletier after 67 moves, ensuring India B registered their third consecutive 4-0 victory in the 44th edition of the Chess Olympiad.

Considering the standards, he sets for himself, Praggnanandhaa knew he had gotten out of jail. His victory wasn’t to do with his superior play, but a result of the Swiss running out of time.

“My game quality was very poor today. I didn’t expect to win at all. I was just hoping to make a draw from the 25th move. I am just sorry for him (his opponent). I want to focus on the remaining games,” Praggnanandhaa, 16, told reporters after his match.

With matches coming thick and fast, he won’t have too much time to ponder over the things he could have done better. That India B have registered three convincing victories so far means they are on track for a possible medal. D Gukesh, Nihal Sarin and Raunak Sadhwani won their matches on Sunday with consummate ease.

“To be honest, I was expecting a 4-0 win even though it might look a bit overambitious. But the way the players have been performing, I thought it was possible. What was surprising was Praggnanandhaa’s game. It is important to get these difficult moments early in the tournament so that you can regain your focus,” RB Ramesh, captain of the India B team, said.

India A, meanwhile, defeated Greece 3-1 for their third win on the trot. P Harikrishna beat Dimitros Mastrovasilis while Arjun Erigaisi eased past Athanasios Mastrovasilis. Vidit Gujrathi and Sasikiran Krishnan were held. Having worked extensively on the opening for his battle against Mastrovasilis, Harikrishna was glad with how the contest panned out.

“We prepared something in the opening. The first 15 moves were prepared beforehand. I got a nice position on the opening, but my opponent put up nice resistance. Towards the end, I played an excellent combination due to which I could take full points. The critical move was bishop to d5,” Harikrishna said.

While the United States have had some unexpectedly patchy displays till now, they are getting the job done. On Sunday, Levon Aronian and Sam Shankland’s victories gave them a 3-1 win against Georgia. Fabiana Caruana and Leinier Dominguez were held by their respective opponents.

It could be construed as a slow start to the tournament, but Harikrishna feels the top seeds in the open section will eventually pick up the pace.

“US has a very strong team with five 2700+ plus players, but on the other hand, they are facing pretty solid teams. It means winning on all the boards is not going to be easy. But as long as they win the match, they are not going to be worrying,” said Harikrishna.

The third Indian team in the open section defeated Iceland 3-1. All the three Indian teams in the women’s section also continued their winning run.

Carlsen held as Norway suffer setback: A day after Magnus Carlsen began his Olympiad campaign with a victory over Uruguay’s Georg Maier, he was held by Italian Daniele Vocaturo. That wouldn’t have been as much of a blow provided his teammates had stepped up. Aryan Tari was also held by Luca Moroni while Jon Ludvig Hammer and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen lost to Lorenzo Lodici and Francesco Sonis respectively, resulting in a 1-3 defeat for the third seeds.

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