Olympiad: India men look regroup on rest day after loss to Uzbekistan

The rest day on Tuesday could not have come at a better time for the India men, who will seek to regroup after a chaotic first half of the Chess Olympiad and a sixth-round loss to hosts Uzbekistan that left their title defence in disarray.

The defeat left India two points behind Uzbekistan, who took the sole lead. China and Armenia are next on 11 points, with India among the teams tied on 10. The battle was lost on the third board, where Nihal Sarin faltered for the first time in the event and went down to Nodirbek Yakubboev. The other three matches ended in draws.

The women’s team, meanwhile, responded strongly after their 1.5-2.5 defeat to Poland in the fifth round by beating the United States 3-1. Vantika Agarwal, a member of the 2024 gold-medal-winning team, overcame Irina Krush in a 65-move battle, while Savitha Shri B defeated Rose Atwell in 47 moves. Koneru Humpy and Carissa Yip split the point after 54 moves, while Divya Deshmukh’s encounter with Alice Lee ended in a draw after 33 moves.

The two victories and two draws ensured that the defending champions returned to winning ways immediately after their first setback of the tournament against Poland.

The signs of tentativeness were visible when defending champions India saw Arjun Erigaisi lose to his Thai counterpart in the opener. The fact that India still secured a 3-1 victory by winning on the remaining boards probably did little to lift the team’s mood. India then scraped through with a narrow 2.5-1.5 win over Indonesia before hitting their stride against Italy, Spain and the Netherlands in the next three rounds.

However, in the much anticipated clash against Zavokhir Sindarov & Co saw Nihal Sarin squandering a promising position to go down - putting the team in a tied fourth spot on 10 points. The United States is one team that everyone should look up to, as they bounced back with a 2.5-1.5 victory over Norway following their loss by a similar margin against Germany.

The biggest hurdle for the Indian men in next five rounds could be Germany and the USA and should they finish on the right side, a podium finish is guaranteed with even a gold being also not ruled out. The pick thus far has clearly been the Uzbek team, which has done wonders.

Interestingly enough, the Uzbek youngsters were not allowed to join the famous Bermuda party on the eve of the rest day in 2022 by coach Ivan Sokolov They went on to win the gold.

The Indian men face a rejuvenated England in their quest for a comeback. The inclusion of highly regarded theoretician Nikita Vitiugov on the top board is certainly making the English team look better, but the form of Gawain Jones could be a matter of concern for them. Jones has two losses against his name.