All posts tagged: Chess Olympiad India

INTERVIEW with AICF president Nitin Narang on India’s grand chess plan

Published by Webster

The historic double gold for India’s Open and Women’s teams at the Olympiad shifted the power equation in world chess and put the country’s GenNext players in the limelight. All India Chess Federation president Nitin Narang spoke to The Indian Express on the road ahead — India’s own player rating system, contracts for top players and the challenges of generating sponsorships. Excerpts: India has a bunch of very talented players. Do you see this as a big responsibility? Nitin Narang: The achievements of these golden boys and girls are because of their efforts and the sacrifices of their parents. When I was in Budapest for the Olympiad I saw how much parents were sacrificing. The federation’s role is to support players. Yes, there is a huge responsibility on my shoulders; one to continue the momentum, and second to make sure these players, who have outperformed everyone in the world, get the best of the facilities and support. How was the reaction of other players and fans during the Olympiad? Nitin Narang: India’s chess players were …

Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali help India win openers

Published by Webster

The Indian chess team signalled its intent to win a gold medal in the open section of the ongoing Chess Olympiad after defeating a hapless Morocco team 4-0 in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday. The Indian women’s team also won 3.5-0.5 against the Jamaican team with Vaishali — playing on the top board for India in the absence of Harika Dronavalli — winning her game. Tania Sachdev and Divya Deshmukh also claimed wins while Vantika Agarwal was held to a draw by Raehanna Brown. With the 18-year-old world championship contender Gukesh choosing to sit the first round out, Praggnanandhaa played on the top board for India. And Praggnanandhaa responded by putting his opponent Mohamed Tissir — at 47 years of age more than twice the age of Praggnanandhaa — under heavy duress from the 18th move itself. Tissir, an International Master with a rating of 2355 and currently ranked 2639 in the world among active players, was overmatched. His peak rating of 2490 came in October 2006, when Praggnanandhaa would have been …

India’s ‘strongest team ever’ itching for gold

Published by Webster

India’s chess Avengers are assembling in Budapest. Their mission: to win the gold medal at the Chess Olympiad, the most prestigious team competition in the sport. An Indian team had won gold at the Olympiad before: but that was a shared one with Russia at the 2020 Online Chess Olympiad, where there was a different format used. India also has bronze medals from their campaigns in 2014 and 2022. At the 2022 Olympiad in India, players like D Gukesh left their mark. But the 2024 Olympiad in Hungary’s capital could just be the coming-of-age event on the chessboard that India has been awaiting. “This is certainly the strongest team India has ever sent to an Olympiad. They have a pretty decent chance of winning the gold, and a fair chance of winning a medal. Although this is the same team that India sent to the 2023 Asian Games (where they won silver), I think everyone has certainly become stronger in the last one year,” Srinath Narayanan, the captain of the Indian team, told The Indian …