Chess
Chess Olympiad 2022: How can the Indian teams finish on the podium with final round left?
Here, we take a look at the how the Indian teams can finish on the podium with final round of the Chess Olympiad 2022 left.
D Gukesh (Source: FIDE)
The Chess Olympiad 2022 is poised beautifully with one round to go in both the open and women's section. While the India A team in the women's section is in sole lead and look comfortable to clinch a historic gold for India, the India B and A teams in the open section too are in contention for a place in the podium.
Here, we take a look at how the Indian teams can finish on the podium in Chess Olympiad 2022.
Open Section
India A
The India A team comprising of Pentala Harikrishna, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigiasi, SL Narayanan and Krishnan Sasikiran are currently placed 4th in the standings. While they do have a good chance of squeezing into the podium, the fact that they have to face the top seeds USA in the final round makes it a bit difficult for them.
To earn a podium finish, the India A team needs to out rightly defeat the mighty Americans and also hope for a slip up from either one of the three teams above them in standings - Uzbekistan, Armenia and India B.
India B
With an average age of just 19, the India B team has been the dark horse in Chennai. Led admirably well by the 16-year-old D Gukesh on the top board, this team of Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani and Baskaran Adhiban has brought down some of the giants of the world of chess.
They currently sit third in the standings and play a strong Germany in the final round. To keep their chances of podium alive, they need to out rightly beat the Germans led by Vincent Keymer.
India C
The India C team of Surya Sekhar Ganguly, SP Sethuraman, Abhijeet Gupta, Abhimanyu Puranik and Karthikeyan Murali are virtually out of contention for a spot in the podium. They are currently placed 28th and even a win against Kazakhstan in their final tie would not be enough for them.
Women's Section
India A
The India A team in the women's section looks set to clinch a historic gold at the Chess Olympiad for India. The team of Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Tania Sachdev, R Vaishali and Bhakti Kulkarni have the sole lead by 1 point going into the final round. Even a draw against USA in their final round should be enough to see them finish on the podium.
India B
The India B team of Vantika Agarwal, Soumya Swaminathan, Mary Ann Gomes, Divya Deshmukh and Padmini Rout are currently placed sixth in the standings. To harbour any hopes of a podium finish, they would need to out rightly defeat Slovakia in their final encounter and also hope for a loss for at least a couple of the teams above them in the standings.
India C
The India C team of Eesha Karavde, Sahiti Varshini, Pratyusha Bodda, PV Nandhidhaa and Vishwa Vasnawala have done well to stay within touching distance of the podium at the ninth spot. But, it would be an uphill task for them to register a win against a strong Kazakhstan side in their final round encounter besides hoping for massive slip ups from the eight teams above them.
