India Created History By Winning Chess Olympiad
India created history by winning the chess Olympiad, two teams become champions due to the disconnection of internet connection. India created history by winning the Chess Olympiad for the first time on Sunday. India was declared joint winners with Russia in the final match of the online chess Olympiad. India has won the gold medal in this Olympiad for the first time, while Russia has won it 24 times (Soviet Union 18 times).
An awkward situation took place in the final when the Indian team members Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh lost their internet connection. This happened in the second round in the final of the Chess Olympiad, after which India made an official appeal. After investigating this, FIDE President Arcady Dvorkovic decided to give gold medals to both teams.
This is the first time the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has organized the Olympiad in an online format. This was done because of the Covid-19 epidemic. During this time, in the Indian team, Vidit Gujarati, former world champion Vishwanathan Anand, Koneru Hampi, D Harika, R Pragnananda, P Harikrishna, Nihal Sarin, and Divya Deshmukh represented the country in the final match.
Russia was declared the winner of the Chess Olympiad in the final match, but India filed an appeal and after investigation, both India and Russia were declared joint winners. This was the first time India reached the final of the FIDE Chess Olympiad. Earlier, India’s best performance in the Olympiad came in 2014 when the bronze medal came in its bag.
The first round of the final was tied 3-3. The first six games were on par. Russia won the second round of 4.5–1.5. For her, Andrei Espienco won Sarin, while Polina Shuvalova won over Deshmukh. This led to controversy, as Indians claimed they lost due to poor connections.
Gujarati drew a draw from Nepominiatchi in the first round, while Harikrishna and Vladimir Armatiev also scored points. In other matches, Hampi and Harika drew with Lagno and Kosteniyuk respectively, while R Pragnananda and Deshmukh also managed to keep their rivals at par.
Anand came in place of P Harikrishna in the second round and played a draw against Ian Nepominiatchi, while captain Vidit Gujarati scored points against Danil Dubov. World Rapid champion Koneru Hampi defeated Aleksandra Gorayachkina, while D’Harika played the match with Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Earlier, World Rapid Champion Koneru Hampi defeated India in a tie-break in the semi-final on Saturday to give India a win over Poland. India lost the first round of the match in this match, but the team managed to make a great comeback in the second match and it was with this victory that the Indian team reached the final.
On India’s victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Congratulations to our chess players on winning the Chess Olympiad. Their hard work and dedication are commendable. Their success will surely inspire other chess players. I would also like to congratulate the Russian team. ” India’s veteran chess player Vishwanathan Anand has said, “We both became champions. Congratulations to Russia.”
At the same time, Sports Minister Kiran Rijiju has said, “I congratulate the Indian contingent on winning the gold in the FIDE Chess Olympiad. India was declared the joint winner with Russia. My heartiest congratulations to all the players.” Indian chess player Koneru Hampi has said, “It was a little strange that we suffered defeat due to server failure and our appeal was accepted. All I can say is that we did not give up until the end.”
