India will carry it to the Fide Chess Olympiad, which begins in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Wednesday, along with a line-up that makes the ‘defending champion’ tag feel both deserved and demanding. Bengaluru: Being the team to beat is an odd burden in sport.
The US will start as the Open top seed by rating in the 11-round classical tournament ahead of defending champions India and hosts Uzbekistan. It is likely that the top two boards could be between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh with Arjun on Board 3 and Nihal on Board 4 in the Open section. Because players were not facing each other at high-stakes events, “In the pre-2700-2750 rated Indian team, it was not required to have a huge level of secrecy.
The Open team, seeded second behind the USA, is packed with star players: reigning world champion D Gukesh, the year’s most impressive player R Praggnanandhaa, the chaotic, creative genius Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi. The top-seeded women’s team will have Women’s World Championship challenger Vaishali R, reigning World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy, as well as Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri Baskar. But once that happened, we couldn’t discuss openings and certain things as freely as we could have when they were at a slightly lower level. Uzbekistan have World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, leading their line-up. Then, there’s the tiny matter of the board order. With four players making up one team, where each player sits can matter. The challenge is to get the strategy and order right and make the most of what each player brings.
Narayanan said, they came up with a system of having one coach per player to maintain privacy in preparation. “What I look at is, where a player can exert maximum pressure,” Naryanan said. He’s been playing some turf cricket and picking up a hobby or two,” Narayanan said.
For Gukesh, who has been struggling with form, the Olympiad is his final tournament appearance before the World Championship in November. “He’s been pretty chill in the last couple of months, not as serious and intense as he was earlier.
