World Chess championship Final Challenger Dommaraju Gukesh came up with a superb performance under time pressure as he scored the lone win as India defeated third-seeded China in the seventh round of the Open section of the 45th Chess Olympiad here on Wednesday.
India continued their winning spree in the women’s section too with Vaishali Rameshbabu and Vantika Agarwal winning with black pieces to help the team defeat a strong Georgia side 3-1. Georgia are a former winner of the Chess Olympiad in 2008.
Both the Indian men’s and women’s teams maintained their unbeaten run, taking their tally to 14 points as they remained the sole leaders in the standings after seven rounds.
In the Open section, Uzbekistan, Iran and Hungary moved back into contention by winning their respective matches. Iran defeated Vietnam, who had stunned China in the previous round, 2.5-1.5, Hungary got the better of Lithuania by the same margin while Uzbekistan defeated Ukraine 3-1.
However, as action resumed after a rest day, all eyes were on the clash between India and China. The fans’ hopes of seeing World Championship Final contenders Ding Liren and Gukesh battle it before the mega clash in Singapore did not materialize. The Chinese side rested the reigning World Champion in this round, and it seemed a prudent move, especially after Ding Liren had lost to Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in the sixth round.
Though he did not face the World Champion, Gukesh still was the star performer for India as he defeated top Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi on the first board. In a battle between two players with nearly the same rating, Gukesh emerged winner in a game in which he had a slight edge initially but the Chinese GM fought back bravely and got an advantage.
However, the pendulum swung again as Gukesh came up with some precise moves to wrest back the advantage and eventually won the game in 80 moves in a complicated finish capitalising on some loose moves by the Chinese.
The big news for Indian fans was that this round ended Arjun Erigaisi’s 100 percent win record, though he remains undefeated after a draw with Bu Xiangzhi, a one-time top-10 player.
R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Yu Yangi while Pentala Harikrishna, who came in for Vidit Gujarathi, was held to draw by a lower-rated Wang Yue.
In the women’s section, the Indian team maintained their undefeated run with a seventh successive win, getting the better of a strong Georgia team.
Vaishali defeated International Master Lela Javakhishvili with black pieces while Vantika Agarwal got the better of the higher-rated Bella Khotenashvilli. On the first board, Dronavalli Harika played out a draw with Nana Dzagnidze while on the third board, Divya Deshmukh was held by Nino Batsiashvili. But Vaishali and Vartika’s wins ensured the Indian women maintained their undefeated run.