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44th Chess Olympiad 2022 R1: Indian teams start with six whitewashes

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/07/2022

The host nation India won all six matches and 24 individual games in the first round of 44th Chess Olympiad. 16-year-old GM Raunak Sadhwani scored the fastest victory among all Indians. IM Tania Sachdev had to battle over five hours and 103 moves later she became victorious. GM Koneru Humpy also shoof off initial cobwebs to score a win. All teams scored a resounding victory against the minnow teams. Angola no.1 IM David Silva had the most impressive result of the first round as he drew with the two-time World Cup winner, Levon Aronian. Round 2 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

Every single Indian score a win

GM Raunak Sadhwani gave the boost of confidence to his teammates by picking up the first win for his team | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

44th Chess Olympiad 2022 Official logo | Photo: Official site

Open: India 1 - Zimbabwe: 4-0

While Vidit Gujrathi (2714) had to work a lot to convert his advantage against IM Rodwell Makoto (2346), Arjun Erigaisi, Narayanan S L and K Sasikiran scored regulation victories.

India 1 - Zimbabwe: 4-0

Vidit Gujrathi had to fight the longest to score the victory | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

GM Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

GM S L Narayanan | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes
Sasikiran wins the first game of Olympiad 2022! GM Sasikiran (2638) vs Zhemba (2162) | Video: ChessBase India

GM K Sasikiran has now played 109 games in the Olympiad | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

UAE - India 2: 0-4

GM Nihal Sarin (2651) had to work quite hard against IM Ibrahim Sultan (2108).

Nihal - Ibrahim

Position after 33...Kg8

33...Kg6 is the recommendation by the computer. 33...Kg8 runs into back rank issues after 34.Re1 Qc4 35.Re8 Qc1+ 36.Kh2 Qxa3 now White needed to do Ne1-d3-f4-e6/g6 maneuvering to get the f8-bishop. It is not easy to spot the knight manuever. 37.Rdd8 Qxb4 38.Rxf8+ Qxf8 39.Rxf8+ Kxf8 gave Black some practical chances for a draw. It was not easy to salvage a draw, eventually Black made a mistake and Nihal walked away with a full point.

GM D Gukesh and GM R B Ramesh | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

Nihal Sarin had to dig deep to score the first point | Photo: FIDE/Mark Livshitz

GM B Adhiban scored a signature win | Photo: FIDE/Mark Livshitz

GM Raunak Sadhwani scored the fastest victory among all Indian players | Photo: Amruta Mokal

UAE - India 2: 0-4

UAE got whitewashed by India 2: 0-4 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

India 3 - South Sudan: 4-0

GM Sethuraman S P, GM Abhijeet Gupta, GM Karthikeyan Murali and GM Abhimanyu Puranik scored emphatic victories.

India 3 - South Sudan: 4-0

India 3 faced no trouble defeating South Sudan 4-0 | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

Women: Tajikistan - India 1: 0-4

IM Tania Sachdev (2399) survived a massive scare against Rukhsona Saidova (1624).

Rukhsona - Saidova

Position after 38...Rd6

The teenager missed the 39.f4 break against which Black did not have any good defense. 39...f6 is met by 40.f5 Qg7 41.Kf2 Black's pieces are completely paralyzed. The game soon liquidated into a drawn minor piece endgame. However, Rukshona's lack of experience allowed Tania to grind the endgame until her opponent made a mistake to score the victory.

The 103-move long encounter grabbed a lot of attention | Photo: FIDE/Steve Bonhage

Humpy recovered well after a not so smooth start | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Vaishali R simply crushed her opponent | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Interview with IM Vaishali R | Video: FIDE

IM Bhakti Kulkarni scored an emphatic victory | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Tajikistan - India: 0-4

Wales - India 2: 0-4

Only WGM Vantika Agrawal (2371) had to persevere a difficult position against WFM Olivia Smith (2038). IM Soumya Swaminathan, WGM Mary Ann Gomes and WGM Divya Deshmukh scored comfortable wins.

Wales - India 2: 0-4

WGM Vantika Agrawal overcame WFM Olivia Smith | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

IM Soumya Swaminathan | Photo: Amruta Mokal

WGM Mary Ann Gomes | Photo: Amruta Mokal

WGM Divya Deshmukh | Photo: Amruta Mokal

India 3 - Hong Kong: 4-0

IM Eesha Karavade, WGM Nandhidhaa P V, WIM Sahithi Varshini M and WGM Pratyusha Bodda scored a victory each.

India 3 - Hong Kong: 4-0

IM Eesha Karavade | Photo: Amruta Mokal

WGM Nandhidhaa P V | Photo: Amruta Mokal

WIM Sahithi Varshini | Photo: Amruta Mokal

WGM Pratyusha Bodda | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Angola - USA: 0.5-3.5

GM Levon Aronian (USA, 2775) made an exchange sacrifice against Angola no.1, IM David Silva (2315). The two-time World Cup winner did not gain enough compensation for it.

Silva - Aronian

Position after 18.Bd5

18...Rxd5 is quite logical 19.exd5 Qxd5 20.f3 Qc6. White eventually got substantial advantage too. However, it was not clear how to maximize his chances. After more than three hours of play, the game ended in a draw agreement.

Angola no.1 David Silva holds two-time World Cup winner Aronian to a draw | Video: ChessBase India

Replay the live stream

Replay Chess Olympiad 2022 Round 1 Live commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Samay Raina | Video: ChessBase India

Video Gallery

Vishy Anand makes the first move at 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 | Video: ChessBase India
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich makes the first move on the open board number one | Video: ChessBase India
The media craze for India Woman number one - GM Koneru Humpy | Video: ChessBase India
Moments before the start of the first round | Video: ChessBase India
The Indian Team one Open and Women arrives for Round 1 | Video: ChessBase India
Crowd waiting to welcome Nihal Sarin after his win in Round 1 | Video: ChessBase India
The formidable USA team ft. Aronian, So, Dominguez and Shankland | Video: ChessBase India
The soul of the Chess Olympiad 2022 - Volunteers | Video: ChessBase India
Olympiad expert Geoffrey Borg speaks about Indian preparation for this grand event | Video: ChessBase India
The complete venue tour of the Chess Olympiad 2022 | Video: ChessBase India
The only visually impaired volunteer at the Chess Olympiad 2022 - K Marimuthu | Video: ChessBase India

Schedule

Everyday round starts at 3 p.m. IST from 29th July to 8th August 2022. The final round on 9th August starts 10 a.m. IST. Rest day is on 4th August 2022.

Replay Round 1 Open games

Replay Round 1 Women games

Round 1 Open results

No.SNo TeamTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamTeam SNo
12
INDIndia *)004:000ZimbabweZIM
94
293
ANGAngola00½:00United States of AmericaUSA
1
395
LBNLebanon00½:00NorwayNOR
3
44
ESPSpain004:000WalesWLS
96
597
SYRSyria000:400PolandPOL
5
66
AZEAzerbaijan004:000AlgeriaALG
98
799
JORJordan000:400NetherlandsNED
7
88
UKRUkraine004:000ThailandTHA
100
9101
SUDSudan000:400GermanyGER
9
1010
ENGEngland004:000CyprusCYP
102
11103
UAEUnited Arab Emirates000:400India 2IND
11
1212
ARMArmenia004:000MadagascarMAD
104
13105
NCANicaragua000:400IranIRI
13
1414
UZBUzbekistan004:000NepalNEP
107
15108
JAMJamaica00½:00FranceFRA
15
1616
IND3India 3004:000South SudanSSD
109
17110
ETHEthiopia000:400CroatiaCRO
17
1818
CZECzech Republic00:½00Puerto RicoPUR
111
19112
SRISri Lanka001:300HungaryHUN
19
2020
ROURomania004:000BotswanaBOT
113

Details

Round 2 Open pairings

No.SNo TeamTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamTeam SNo
148
MDAMoldova42:24India *)IND
2
21
USAUnited States of America2:24ParaguayPAR
47
33
NORNorway2:23UruguayURU
49
450
BELBelgium42:24SpainESP
4
55
POLPoland42:24ColombiaCOL
51
652
PHIPhilippines42:24AzerbaijanAZE
6
77
NEDNetherlands42:24PortugalPOR
53
854
ALBAlbania42:24UkraineUKR
8
99
GERGermany42:24FinlandFIN
55
1056
SGPSingapore42:24EnglandENG
10
1111
IND2India 242:24EstoniaEST
57
1258
ANDAndorra32:24ArmeniaARM
12
1313
IRIIran42:24IrelandIRL
59
1460
FAIFaroe Islands42:24UzbekistanUZB
14
1515
FRAFrance2:24North MacedoniaMKD
61
1662
MEXMexico42:24India 3IND
16
1717
CROCroatia42:24BulgariaBUL
63
1864
LATLatvia42:2Czech RepublicCZE
18
1919
HUNHungary32:24BangladeshBAN
65
2066
ECUEcuador42:24RomaniaROU
20

Details

Round 1 Women results

No.SNo TeamTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamTeam SNo
180
TJKTajikistan000:400India *)IND
1
22
UKRUkraine004:000South AfricaRSA
81
382
IRQIraq000:400GeorgiaGEO
3
44
POLPoland004:000SyriaSYR
83
584
MNCMonaco000:400FranceFRA
5
66
AZEAzerbaijan004:000United Arab EmiratesUAE
85
786
PURPuerto Rico000:400United States of AmericaUSA
7
88
GERGermany004:000ZambiaZAM
87
988
BOTBotswana000:400ArmeniaARM
9
1010
KAZKazakhstan004:000GuatemalaGUA
89
1190
WLSWales000:400India 2IND2
11
1212
HUNHungary00:½00PanamaPAN
91
1392
JPNJapan000:400SpainESP
13
1414
CUBCuba004:000UgandaUGA
93
1594
ZIMZimbabwe000:400BulgariaBUL
15
1616
IND3India 3004:000Hong KongHKG
95
1796
JAMJamaica000:400NetherlandsNED
17
1818
SRBSerbia004:000Sri LankaSRI
97
1998
KORSouth Korea001:300IsraelISR
19
2020
ROURomania003:100KenyaKEN
99

Details

Round 2 Women pairings

No.SNo TeamTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamTeam SNo
11
INDIndia *)42:2ArgentinaARG
40
241
TURTurkey42:24UkraineUKR
2
33
GEOGeorgia42:24LithuaniaLTU
42
443
CROCroatia2:24PolandPOL
4
55
FRAFrance42:24EgyptEGY
44
645
FINFinland42:24AzerbaijanAZE
6
77
USAUnited States of America42:24UzbekistanUZB
46
847
DENDenmark42:24GermanyGER
8
99
ARMArmenia42:24NorwayNOR
48
1049
BELBelgium42:24KazakhstanKAZ
10
1111
IND2India 242:24LatviaLAT
50
1251
IRLIreland42:2HungaryHUN
12
1313
ESPSpain42:24MalaysiaMAS
52
1453
MDAMoldova42:24CubaCUB
14
1515
BULBulgaria42:24MexicoMEX
54
1655
SGPSingapore42:24India 3IND3
16
1717
NEDNetherlands42:24CanadaCAN
56
1857
CHIChile42:24SerbiaSRB
18
1919
ISRIsrael32:24VenezuelaVEN
58
2059
PORPortugal2:23RomaniaROU
20

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations


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