All posts tagged: Tania Sachdev

Divya Deshmukh pulls rabbit out of hat with 17 secs left

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Divya Deshmukh was in a completely losing position in the fourth round of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, with just about 17 seconds left on the clock, with three pawns lesser on the board than her opponent, women’s grandmaster Mitra Hejazipour. She had one move to make to stave off doom. By this stage, the top seeded Indian women’s team’s fate in the tie against France was in the balance, with Vaishali drawing her game but Harika Dronavalli and Tania Sachdev still battling in positions that could have swung either way. One of the nuances of the Chess Olympiad is that individual victories or losses can be easily offset by the rest of the team’s results so players always have to keep an eye on the adjoining boards to decide if they should push their own opponent, or settle for bloodless draws. Tania Sachdev, in fact, who was asked to play on the fourth board in place of Vantika Agarwal on Saturday, was caught in a complicated position at that stage. But she chose to …

Divya Deshmukh stars; Arjun, Gukesh, Pragg victorious

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One of the most ego-bruising ways to lose a chess game has to be when your king gets checkmated by a lowly pawn. That’s exactly the kind of coup de grace Divya Deshmukh delivered to her hapless opponent, women’s international master Sofiia Hryzlova (rated 2188), to hand India a 1-0 lead over Switzerland in the third round of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. This is the third win for Divya in the Chess Olympiad, and the 18-year-old from Nagpur is shaping up to be a great bet for India on the third board, behind Harika Dronavalli and R Vaishali. The Indian women’s team, which is the top seeded team at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, went on to defeat the Swiss team 3-1 to bag both the game points on offer in the third round. Soon after Divya’s victory, Vaishali (facing women’s grandmaster Ghazal Hakimifard) and Vantika Agrawal (taking on Mariia Manko) claimed wins as well to soften the blow of India’s top board player, Harika, losing to grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk. Divya Deshmukh (playing with …

Sportsmanship headlines India’s victory over the Czech Republic at the Chess Olympiad

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On Thursday, day two of the Chess Olympiad resumed per schedule and the top-seeded Indian Women posted a 3.5-0.5 victory over the Czech Republic. While the outcome wasn’t a surprise owing to the superiority of the Indian women, the victory would not have been possible had it not been for an extraordinary piece of sportsmanship by the Czech team. As it turns out, the Indian Women arrived late at the venue for the second round match against the Czech Republic owing to delayed bus commute to the venue in Budapest, Hungary. With the Czech team at the board per the designated time, they were well within their right to start the clock and use it to their advantage with the Indian team not having turned up. But they declined to do and instead insisted on waiting for the Indian women to arrive. In a video posted by Chessbaseindia, the Indian women are seen arriving late to the venue and the arbiter walks up to Tania Sachdev asking for Vantika Agarwal. Due to conveyance issues, the …

Indian men’s, women’s teams register 2nd successive wins

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The Indian men’s and women’s teams continued their winning streak at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, securing back-to-back victories. In the open section, the Indian men followed their convincing 4-0 win over Morocco in Round 1 with an identical scoreline against Iceland in Round 2. Praggnanandhaa was rested and Gukesh was in the mix for Round 2, where he straightaway felt the pressure against his opponent GM Vatnar Stefansson. Despite being under time pressure while playing with the back pieces, he ultimately prevailed over Vatnar to give India a 1-0 lead in the open section. Arjun Erigaisi, meanwhile, exerted pressure on his opponent, GM Hannes Stefansson, by advancing his pawns in a ‘pawn stacking’ strategy that confused the Icelandic player, ultimately leading to his defeat and giving India a 2-0 lead. Vidit Gujarati then didn’t commit any mistakes and played flawlessly in his game against Hilmir Freyr Heimisson securing another victory and extending India’s lead to 3-0 over the Icelanders. Eventually, GM Pentala Harikrishna completed the clean sweep, defeating Helgi Ass Gretarsson to …

Arjun Erigaisi, the Mad Man of the Chess Board, delivers for India

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There was a point in his second round match against India’s Arjun Erigaisi when grandmaster Hannes Stefansson (rated 2471) did a double take as he looked at his board. Somehow, his opponent had unleashed such chaos on the board that three of his pawns stood in a neat queue on three squares on the e file. If having doubled pawns (two pawns on the same file) is bad on the chessboard, having tripled pawns is frankly inexcusable. And rare! So what if it had cost Arjun Erigaisi two knights to have his opponent’s pawns standing one behind the other. Arjun Erigaisi had started attacking Stefansson’s king as early as on the 10th move, with his h pawn. By the 16th move, he held a considerable advantage on the evaluation bar, one which Arjun Erigaisi — christened by Magnus Carlsen as the Mad Man of the Chess Board in an interview with The Indian Express — had no trouble converting into a win. Arjun Erigaisi thus gave the Indian team a 1-0 lead in the second …

India look to win golds at FIDE-organised 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest

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45th FIDE Chess Olympiad Round 2 2024 Live: Despite resting both their top boards in the open and women’s section in the first round of the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, the Indian chess teams claimed easy victories. On Thursday, the open team is paired against Iceland while the women’s team will take on the Czech Republic. Gukesh who sat out the first round is back, as is Harika Dronavalli, to take their spots on the top board for the two Indian teams. Meanwhile, the Indian think tank has decided to rest Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali in round 2. India are taking on Iceland in the Open section while the Indian women’s team faces Czech Republic. You can follow our live updates from the Chess Olympiad Round 2 by scrolling past the interactive boards Follow live action from 45th Chess Olympiad’s open section where India face Iceland INTERACTIVE: Follow the move-by-move action from the game between GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (2531) vs GM D Gukesh (2764) below and also click on the notations at the right …

Indian Men’s and Women’s teams start with wins

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The Indian men’s and women’s teams kicked off the 45th Chess Olympiad, currently underway in Hungary, with impressive wins in Round 1, on Thursday. All four players from the Indian men’s team, competing in the open section, including R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, and Arjun Erigaisi, emerged victorious against their Moroccan opponents. Praggnanandhaa gave India an early lead with a 30-move knockout against Tissir Mohamed, applying constant pressure and cornering the opponent’s king. Vidit followed suit forcing his opponent, Ouakhir Mehdi Pierre, to resign after 28 moves. Pentala Harikrishna then delivered an impressive checkmate against Moayad Anas, extending India’s lead to 3-0. Finally, Arjun Erigaisi sealed India’s 4-0 victory by defeating Elbilia Jacques. In the women’s section, the Indian team secured a 3.5-0.5 win over Jamaica. R Vaishali, Tania Sachdev, and Divya Deshmukh all won their games, while Vantika Agarwal drew against her opponent. Team India kicked off the Chess Olympiad with an incredible 4/4 victory over Morocco! 💪 A flawless performance by Pentala Harikrishna, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. 🔥 In …

Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali help India win openers

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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 …