Chess Olympiad: India men beat Italy 3-1, women crush Greece 3.5-0.5
India's men's team registered a convincing 3-1 win over Italy's all-Grandmaster side, while the women's team defeated Greece 3.5-0.5 to maintain its position at the top after the third round of the 46th Chess Olympiad on Friday.
For the men's team, Nihal Sarin continued his strong run in the tournament, while reigning world champion D Gukesh returned to winning ways. R Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw for the second successive day, but Nihal and Gukesh's victories ensured India secured a comfortable team win.
Praggnanandhaa drew against Lorenzo Lodici on the top board, while Arjun Erigaisi was also held to a draw by Luca Moroni Jr.
Playing on the fourth board, Gukesh defeated Sabino Brunello with the black pieces. The Indian opted for the Queen's Indian Defence and created a dynamic position before taking control of the game. Gukesh was already close to a winning advantage around the 20th move and eventually completed the victory in 33 moves.
Nihal, playing White against Francesco Sonis, capitalised on a positional error arising from a Trompowsky Attack. He controlled play on both flanks and eventually won a rook after Sonis lost track of the position, leaving the Italian with no realistic chance of recovery.
In the women's section, India produced an even more dominant performance against Greece. Koneru Humpy defeated Stavroula Tsolakidou in a one-sided encounter, while Divya Deshmukh drew against Anastasia Avramidou.
Vantika Agrawal secured another point for India by defeating Ekaterini Pavlidou. On the fourth board, B Savitha Shri continued her perfect start with a third consecutive victory, beating Antonia Christodoulaki.
The tournament features 11 rounds, leaving eight rounds to be played. With the leading teams set to face each other in the upcoming rounds, the next three matches could prove important in shaping India's medal prospects in both the open and women's sections.
with inputs from PTI
