Nihal Sarin posted the all-important win while Gukesh was held to a draw.
| Photo Credit: FIDE
Nihal Sarin saved the blushes for India on day two of the Chess Olympiad at Samarkand. His win on the second board was the reason why India, the defending champion, could beat a much lower-rated Indonesia 2.5-1.5 in the Open section on Thursday.
Nihal, though, was in considerable trouble in his game against Arif Abdul Hafiz before he won in 37 moves. R. Praggnanandhaa, the in-form player who was making his first appearance in this edition of the Olympiad, World champion D. Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi were all forced to draw their games.
Praggnanandhaa did try his best to stretch his opponent Susanto Megaranto, who, however, played solidly to ensure that the drawn rook-pawn endgame was indeed drawn, after 79 moves.
The Indian women, also the reigning champions, were more convincing than the men, just as they were in the opening round. They beat Finland 3.5-0.5.
There were wins for Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and B. Savitha Shri, but on the top board, R. Vaishali, like her brother Praggnanandhaa, had to settle for a draw, with Anastasia Keinanen in 88 moves. So the top-seeded Indian women could not quite score the full points, which they had in the opening round against Dominican Republic (4-0).
The results (second round): Open: India bt Indonesia 2.5-1.5 (R. Praggnanandhaa drew with Susanto Megaranto; Nihal Sarin bt Arif Abdul Hafiz; D. Gukesh drew with Satriya Cahaya; Vidit Gujrathi drew with Nayaka Budhidharma)
Uzbekistan bt Peru 3.5-0.5; USA bt Mongolia 2.5-1.5; China bt Chile 3-1; Germany bt Uzbekistan-3 3.5-0.5; Azerbaijan bt The Philippines 3-1.
Women: India bt Finland 3.5-0.5 (R. Vaishali drew with Anastasia Keinanen; Divya Deshmukh bt Johanna Paasikangas; Vantika Agrawal bt Sara-Olivia Sippola; B. Savitha Shri bt Heja Lehtinen).
Uzbekistan bt Ecuador 4-0; Kazakhstan bt Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-1; USA bt Belgium 4-0; Georgia drew with Montenegro 2-2; Ukraine bt Lithuania 4-0; Netherlands bt Luxembourg 4-0; China bt Colombia 3.5-0.5; Azerbaijan bt Denmark 4-0.
Published – September 17, 2026 10:42 pm IST
