41st Chess Olympiad: India targets podium finish; to bank on good result and luck

TROMSO (NORWAY): Having done exceptionally well thus far, the Indian men eye glory with a podium finish on what could be a historic day for Indian chess on the eve of the 68th Independence Day which is also the final day of the 41st Chess Olympiad.

Sitting joint third on 15 points out of a possible 20, the quartet of Parimarjan Negi, S P Sethuraman, Krishnan Sasikiran and B Adhiban will take on Uzbekistan in the final round.

The Indians start a favourite for the tie but they need to hold the first two boards together in the crunch game.

Going in to the 11th and last round, China leads the Olympiad with 17 points, a half clear of Hungary who is sole second. As many as eight teams share the third spot. Russia, France, Azerbaijan, Poland United States, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and India share the honours on 15 points.

Not only victory, the Indians will need favourable results on other boards too for a podium finish. While China looks a certainty for the medal at least meeting Poland in the finale, Hungary meets Ukraine and one of them will go through to win a medal.

Currently Indians hold a better tiebreak than Azerbaijan so an Azerbaijani victory over United States will not deter them much, however a draw will suit Indians the most in this clash. A similar scenario is for the Russia v/s France clash, where the team will be hoping that it ends in a tied result

It will be more a battle of nerves for Uzbekistan also - an average looking team powered by former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov on the top board. While Kasimdzhanov will take on Negi with black pieces, the onus will be on Sethuraman to hold himself together against Anton Filippov on the second board.