Bengaluru : Reigning world champion Gukesh D had lost his game. He walked over to Arjun Erigaisi, broke into a smile and patted him on the back. It was one of those peculiarly wonderful sights the Olympiad produces – a fiercely individual sport briefly becoming a team game.
Arjun’s win with Black on Board 2 against former World Championship challenger Peter Leko was India’s only victory against Hungary in the final round and earned them a 2-2 draw on Sunday. Hosts Uzbekistan, who had cruised through much of the tournament, deservedly took gold after beating Ukraine, while Germany finished third following a 2.5-1.5 win over Netherlands. A second gold in three editions – Uzbekistan were champions at the 2022 Chennai Olympiad – is further evidence of their emergence as a leading chess nation, powered by an exceptional group of young players. In Round 11, Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin drew their games against Richard Rapport and Benjamin Gledura respectively. He ran into Gleb Dudin’s excellent preparation, with the Hungarian building a sizeable advantage within the first 20 moves. He finished with 5.5/10 on Board 2. They have now won it at three successive Olympiads, starting in 2022. India, Armenia, USA, Mongolia and Poland all finished on 17 match points after 11 rounds, with India taking third place on superior tiebreaks. Koneru Humpy brought in an early win on Board 1, but after Divya Deshmukh lost and Vantika Agrawal drew, it came down to Savitha. The game lasted 83 moves. The queens came off the board shortly after move 50 and, with just 50 seconds on her clock, Savitha’s opponent Meri Arabidze played 53.Be6, a critical error that allowed her advantage to slip. Savitha immediately found 53…Be8, a precise defensive move that brought her back into the game.
Savitha Shri turned around a hopelessly lost position to salvage a draw and carry top seeds and defending champions India to bronze. China, who held a two-point lead heading into the final round, won gold, while Kazakhstan took silver. Had Savitha lost, however, none of that arithmetic would have mattered: India would have been out of medal contention.
It was enough to win the defending champions the silver medal in the Open section of the Fide Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. For Uzbekistan, Mukhiddin Madaminov, best known as World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov’s second during the Candidates, was the hero, delivering their only win of the match. Arjun glanced over at Gukesh’s board, saw a position that looked grim, and knew he was in a must-win situation. Gukesh, playing his last classical game before November’s World Championship match, suffered his first loss of the tournament. Arjun, who had not been in his best touch through the tournament and had missed a win in the penultimate round, made no mistake against Leko. India retained the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, awarded to the federation with the best combined performance across the Open and Women’s sections. In the women’s section, the fight for a medal was far more dramatic. China achieved the feat without their three highest-rated players – Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie. The bronze came down to tiebreaks. She stared at an awful position that needed something close to a miracle to save the game, the match and India’s medal hopes. Playing with Black, Savitha was a pawn down with barely any breathing room for her pieces before she did what she had done throughout the tournament – found a way back. Slowly, the position turned. Savitha went from a pawn down to a pawn up. It wasn’t enough to turn the game into a win, but on the day, a draw from the dead was enough. India had their bronze.
Bafflingly, after four wins on the trot, she was rested for Round 5 against Poland – a match India went on to lose. On most days, the 19-year-old international master was India’s saviour. Round 11 against second seeds Georgia was no different.
Savitha, who found a place in the team after Olympiad veteran Harika Dronavalli decided not to play, ended up having a terrific tournament.
