Chess Olympiad: Indian men score a resounding 3-1 victory over Spain

Samarkand (Uzbekistan): The Indian men's team continued its fine performance, defeating Spain 3-1, with world champion D Gukesh showing the way with a very clean victory over former world championship challenger Alexei Shirov.

On a day when Arjun Erigaisi paved the way for team India to go one-up early thanks to a finely crafted attacking game on the second board, R Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by David Anton Guijarro, while Nihal Sarin achieved the same result against Jaime Santos Latasa.

Gukesh appears to have put aside thoughts of slipping below 2700 a couple of days ago, and this second victory on the trot is proof of the true mettle that the world champion possesses.


For the record, Shirov played the Sicilian Taimanov, but it never worked according to his plans as Gukesh seized the initiative early in the middlegame with firm control over the dark squares. Shirov had reasons to panic and did so by sacrificing a rook for a minor piece, but the compensation was never sufficient. Gukesh correctly opened up the centre, and the rest was child's play in this 42-move game.

Arjun, meanwhile, gave an early advantage to the team with his white pieces as he faced the Queen's Indian defense by transposition. The middle game appeared with a dynamic balance and Arjun cashed in with some king side attack that resulted in creating weaknesses around the black king side. Arjun invaded with his queen on the seventh rank to deliver the knockout punch.

Meanwhile, in the women's section, the Indian eves are leading 2-0, with B Savitha Shri continuing to impress with her fourth victory on the trot against seasoned campaigner Munguntuul Batkhuyag, while World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh also scored over Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar to give Team India an unassailable lead.

Indian results round 4 open: India (8) beat Spain (6) 3-1; (David Anton Guijarro drew with R Praggnanandhaa; Maksim Chigaev lost to Arjun Erigaisi; Jaime Santos Latasa drew with Nihal Sarin; Alexei Shirov lost to D Gukesh).

Important results round 4 open: Uzbekistan (6) vs Turkiye (6); United States of America (6) vs Ukraine (6); Serbia (6) vs China (6); Germany (6) vs Poland (6); Greece (6) vs Netherlands (6); Azerbaijan (6) vs Czech Republic (6); Israel (6) vs Hungary (6); France (6) vs Romania (6); Argentina (6) vs Armenia (6); England (5) vs Singapore (6).

Indian results round 4 women: India (6) vs Mongolia (6); (Mungunzul Bat-Erdene vs Koneru Humpy; Munkhzu Turmunkh vs R Vaishali; Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar vs Divya Deshmukh; Munguntuul Batkhuyag vs B Savitha Shri).

Important results round 4 women: Uzbekistan (6) vs Argentina (6): Mongolia (6) vs India (6); Armenia (6) vs Kazakhstan (6); China (6) vs Hungary (6); Spain (6) vs United States of America (6); England (6) vs Azerbaijan (6); Vietnam (6) vs Poland (6); Germany (6) vs Israel (6); Romania (6) vs Bulgaria (6); Serbia (6) vs Iran (6).