Indian chess created history on 10th August 2022 in the men’s and women’s category as both the teams won bronze medals in the 44th Chess Olympiad on Tuesday, even though they secured a podium finish there was a sense of missing out.
The India 2 team missed out by losing against Uzbekistan on Monday 9th August 2022, the team consisted of the young D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani and B Adhbiban. They had a golden chance to clinch this match up but they missed out on it unfortunately. The Indian women were also extremely close and blew their opportunity away of winning a gold medal as they lost to the US team in the 11th round on Tuesday. Uzbekistan finished on top in the men’s category and Ukraine were first in the Women’s category.
In 1957, the first women’s Olympiad was held. The women’s and open portions have been held jointly since 1976. In the final round, India B defeated Germany 3-1. In the Open class, Uzbekistan surprised everyone by winning gold with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands, ahead of a strong Armenian team that defeated Spain 2.5-1.5 in the final round.
Uzbekistan defeated Armenia due to a higher tie-break score. The Uzbeks went undefeated after 11 rounds, finishing with 19 match points. India’s ‘B’ team finished third with 18 points. This was India’s second bronze medal at the Olympics, following their success in the 2014 edition.
B Adhiban, who was on the squad in 2014, added to his medal tally, while D. Gukesh, who was in fantastic form throughout the tournament, R. Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, and Raunak Sadhwani received their first.
India is the top seed. A women’s team was defeated 1-3 by the United States in the 11th and final round, therefore ending their gold medal ambitions. Koneru Humpy’s squad came in third place. The war-torn country Ukraine earned an emotional gold medal in the women’s event, narrowly defeating Georgia. Koneru Humpy and R. Vaishali of India A drew their games against Gulrukhba Tokhirjonova and Irina Krush, respectively. Tania Sachdev and Bhakthi Kulkarni’s losses harmed their prospects of winning a gold medal.
