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45th Chess Olympiad R2: Harikrishna's romantic rook sacrifice

by Shahid Ahmed - 13/09/2024

Indian teams continue to score wins at 45th Chess Olympiad 2024. The men's team in the Open section scored another 0-4 whitewash win, this time against Iceland. GM D Gukesh played his first game of the event and won convincingly. The remaining three, GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Vidit Gujrathi and GM Pentala Harkrishna also scored emphatic victories. Harikrishna's win was the most memorable one as played a spectacular move 46.Rc7! In the Women's event, India defeated Czech Republic 3.5-0.5. IM Tania Sachdev is the only one to concede a draw against WIM Martina Korenova. Indian men will face Hungary B and Women will be up against Switzerland in Round 3. It starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Indian men whitewash again, Women win with the same score 3.5-0.5

The top seed, USA had to work a lot to earn their 4-0 win over Singapore. The host nation for the upcoming World Championship Match, definitely proved to be a formidable team as apart from GM Fabiano Caruana, the remaining three players did not have it easy. GM Levon Aronian for the second consecutive game had a shaky game. GM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra (CHI) held the world champion, GM Ding Liren (CHN) to a draw, despite Chile losing to China 0.5-3.5. In the Women, India and Switzerland are currently ranked next to each other in terms of points and tie-breaks. The only thing to see is how India fields either Harika or Vaishali against the former Women's World Champion, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, the top woman of Switzerland.

Pentala Harikrishna's 46.Rc7! was a beauty | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

45th Chess Olympiad 2024 Official logo | Photo: Official site

Open: Iceland - India: 0-4

GM D Gukesh (2764), GM Arjun Erigaisi (2778), GM Vidit Gujrathi (2720) and GM Pentala Harikrishna (2686) scored emphatic wins against GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (2531), GM Hannes Stefansson (2471), IM Hilmir Freyr Heimisson (2391) and GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson (2450). GM R Praggnanandhaa was rested.

Vignir - Gukesh

Position after 35.Qd2??

Iceland no.1, GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson made a big mistake 35.Qd2?? GM D Gukesh had no trouble seizing his advantage g3! 36.fxg3 Rxg3 37.e4 R8g4 38.Qe2 Nxf4 39.Nxf4 Bxf4 40.Bf3 Rxf3 and Black won.

GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (ISL) - GM D Gukesh, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

D Gukesh made a winning start at 45th Chess Olympiad just like his teammates | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Hannes - Arjun

Position after 16...f6?

16...f6? GM Hannes Stefansson allowed a chain exchange which only benefitted his opponent, the World no.4, GM Arjun Erigaisi. 17.dxc5 fxe5 18.cxb6! instead of taking the bishop right away as White gains a crucial pawn exf4 19.bxc7 fxg3 20.Rxd6 exf2+ 21.Ke2 both c7 and f2-pawns will be captured in the next few moves. However, the resultant rook and eventually the pawn endgame is winning for White. Arjun showed some fine technique.

GM Hannes Stefansson - GM Arjun Erigaisi, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

GM Arjun Erigaisi scored his second win in-a-row | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Vidit Gujrathi played solid and seized his opportunity when it arose | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Harikrishna - Helgi

Position after 46.Rc7!

GM Pentala Harikrishna  played a beautiful move 46.Rc7! Black cannot take it as 46...Rxc7 47.d6 and White is winning no matter what Black captures. GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson continued 46...Rf8 47.Rb7 Bc5 48.Bxc5 Qf3+ 49.Kg1 and White won the game in the next few moves.

Iceland - India: 0-4

Iceland got whitewashed by India | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The top seed, USA made a clean sweep 4-0 against Singapore but the scorecard won't reveal how close the games were, at least three out of four.

Siddharth - Leinier

Position after 43...c4+

GM Siddharth Jagadeesh (SGP, 2514) was at a critical moment against GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA, 2748). He needed to move his king to a right square. Out of four options, two of them are safe and the other two aren't. Find out the defensive idea then correct choices would be clear.

Aronian - Zhenyong Jayden

Position after 34.Qh4

GM Levon Aronian (USA, 2729) had a wild game against FM Zhenyong Jayden Wong (SGP, 2397). The maestro sacrificed rook. However, Black's pieces being all over the board does not give him the material advantage yet. White is making some threats with his queen, knight and the e5-pawn. How should Black get away from all troubles?

Kevin - Ray

Position after 64...Kg4

GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming (SGP, 2449) had an inhuman task to defend a difficult rook and few pawns endgame against GM Ray Robson (USA, 2700). White needed to find computer-like precise defence to salvage a half point. 65.Re5 is the recommendation to stay in the game by the tireless machine. However, White played the human 65.Rb4?? and lost the game in the next few moves.

Team Singapore made the top seed, USA sweat and earn their victory | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

GM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra (CHI) held the world champion - GM Ding Liren (CHN) to a draw | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Upsets:

Canada - Norway: 2-2

Czech Republic - Mongolia: 2-2

Ireland - Israel: 2-2

Greece - Venezuela: 2-2

Women: India - Czech Republic: 3.5-0.5

GM Vaishali R (2498), IM Divya Deshmukh (2483) and IM Tania Sachdev (2386) scored the victories over WFM Adani Clarke (1919), WIM Rachel Miller (1912) and Gabriella Watson (1826) respectively. WFM Raehanna Brown (1910) held IM Vantika Agrawal (2370). Tania had the smoothest victory among her team members. Vaishali almost allowed her opponent to get back in the game when Adani blundered. Divya had to work for her win.

Harika - Julia

Position after 45.Ke3

WGM Julia Movsesian missed an opportunity to get back in the game 45...Nxd4 46.Kxd4 Nxb6 47.Nxb6 Ba7 48.Kc5 a4 and Black has real practical chances to draw the game. After 45...Bd6? 46.Kd3 f6 47.Nd2 White went on to win in the next few moves.

GM Harika Dronavalli won her game which could have ended in a draw | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Divya Deshmukh defeated WIM Natalie Kanakova (CZE) with ease | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

IM Vantika Agrawal thwarted all attempts of WGM Tereza Rodshtein | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

WIM Martina Korenova held IM Tania Sachdev to a draw | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

India - Czech Republic: 3.5-0.5

Round 2 in progress | Photo: FIDE/Mark Livshitz

Replay live stream

Replay Round 2 Live Commentary by Amruta Mokal, IM Sagar Shah and GM Harshit Raja | Video: ChessBase India

Video Gallery

Round 2 recap by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India
World Championship Challenger D Gukesh arrives for his first game at 45th Chess Olympiad | Video: ChessBase India
World Champion Ding Liren arrives for his first game | Video: ChessBase India
Czech Republic Women's team declines to start the clock as their opponent Indian team running late | Video: ChessBase India
Your chance to win a chess set signed by the Indian Olympiad chess team | Video: ChessBase India

Schedule

Everyday round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST from 11th to 22nd September 2024. The final round on 22nd September starts 11 a.m. IST. Rest day is on 17th September.

Round 2 Open results

No.SNo FEDTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamFED SNo
11
USAUnited States of America24:02SingaporeSGP
45
29
HUNHungary *)42:½24PeruPER
53
346
ISLIceland320:424IndiaIND
2
43
CHNChina42:½24ChileCHI
47
548
EGYEgypt2½:2UzbekistanUZB
4
65
NEDNetherlands42:2BelgiumBEL
49
750
CANCanada422:22NorwayNOR
6
87
GERGermany23:124PhilippinesPHI
51
952
MEXMexico421:32EnglandENG
8
1054
PORPortugal21:32IranIRI
10
1111
POLPoland423:124Hungary CHUN
55
1256
FINFinland42½:2AzerbaijanAZE
12
1313
ESPSpain42:½2Bosnia & HerzegovinaBIH
57
1458
PARParaguay42:2FranceFRA
14
1515
UKRUkraine42:½24UruguayURU
59
1660
ESTEstonia42:24SerbiaSRB
16
1717
ARMArmenia423:124AndorraAND
61
1862
MKDNorth Macedonia42:24RomaniaROU
18
1919
CZECzech Republic422:224MongoliaMGL
63
2064
IRLIreland22:224IsraelISR
20

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.SNoFED TeamGames  +   =   -  TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4 
12IND
India22004882
26SLO
Slovenia22004882
32GEO
Georgia22004882
41USA
United States of America2200487,52
3CHN
China2200487,52
9HUN
Hungary2200487,52
13ESP
Spain2200487,52
29LTU
Lithuania2200487,52
39BRA
Brazil2200487,52
40SWE
Sweden2200487,52

Details

Round 3 pairings

No.SNo FEDTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamFED SNo
124
BULBulgaria74:4United States of AmericaUSA
1
231
AUTAustria4:4Hungary *)HUN
9
32
INDIndia84:47Hungary BHUN
25
426
SLOSlovenia84:4ChinaCHN
3
54
UZBUzbekistan74:47CroatiaCRO
27
628
ITAItaly4:4NetherlandsNED
5
729
LTULithuania4:4GermanyGER
7
88
ENGEngland4:4DenmarkDEN
30
910
IRIIran4:48GeorgiaGEO
32
1033
ARGArgentina64:47PolandPOL
11
1112
AZEAzerbaijan74:47MoldovaMDA
34
1235
CUBCuba4:4SpainESP
13
1314
FRAFrance64:47MontenegroMNE
36
1437
AUSAustralia64:4UkraineUKR
15
1516
SRBSerbia4:4SwitzerlandSUI
38
1639
BRABrazil4:47ArmeniaARM
17
1718
ROURomania4:4SwedenSWE
40
1841
KAZKazakhstan4:4VietnamVIE
21
1922
TURTurkiye74:4SlovakiaSVK
43
2044
COLColombia74:3NorwayNOR
6

Details

Round 2 Women pairings

No.SNo FEDTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamFED SNo
11
INDIndia2:½24Czech RepublicCZE
41
254
ECUEcuador42½:24Hungary *)HUN
14
342
MNEMontenegro421:324GeorgiaGEO
2
43
POLPoland424:02BrazilBRA
43
544
COLColombia420:424ChinaCHN
4
65
UKRUkraine2:24LithuaniaLTU
45
746
AUSAustralia421:324AzerbaijanAZE
6
87
USAUnited States of America42:½24PhilippinesPHI
47
948
BELBelgium421:324GermanyGER
8
109
ESPSpain424:023Hungary CHUN
49
1150
FINFinland42:24KazakhstanKAZ
10
1211
ARMArmenia424:024MexicoMEX
51
1352
EGYEgypt42½:24BulgariaBUL
12
1413
FRAFrance42:½24LuxembourgLUX
53
1515
ENGEngland423:124DenmarkDEN
55
1656
BIHBosnia & Herzegovina42½:24TurkiyeTUR
16
1717
NEDNetherlands42:½24North MacedoniaMKD
57
1858
MNCMonaco421:324MongoliaMGL
18
1919
SRBSerbia2:24ScotlandSCO
59
2060
IRLIreland42½:24VietnamVIE
20

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.SNoFED TeamGames  +   =   -  TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4 
13POL
Poland22004882
4CHN
China22004882
9ESP
Spain22004882
11ARM
Armenia22004882
26ARG
Argentina22004882
37IRI
Iran22004882
77USA
United States of America2200487,52
12BUL
Bulgaria2200487,52
13FRA
France2200487,52
14HUN
Hungary2200487,52

Details

Round 3 pairings

No.SNo FEDTeamPts.MPRes.:Res.MPPts.TeamFED SNo
121
SUISwitzerland74:47IndiaIND
1
214
HUNHungary *)4:47UzbekistanUZB
34
32
GEOGeorgia74:47RomaniaROU
22
423
GREGreece4:48PolandPOL
3
54
CHNChina84:4ItalyITA
24
625
ISRIsrael4:46UkraineUKR
5
76
AZEAzerbaijan74:48ArgentinaARG
26
827
CANCanada4:4United States of AmericaUSA
7
98
GERGermany74:4SloveniaSLO
28
1029
CUBCuba4:48SpainESP
9
1110
KAZKazakhstan4:4AustriaAUT
30
1231
HUNHungary B4:48ArmeniaARM
11
1312
BULBulgaria4:4SlovakiaSVK
32
1433
SWESweden74:4FranceFRA
13
1535
NORNorway4:47EnglandENG
15
1616
TURTurkiye4:48IranIRI
37
1738
ESTEstonia4:4NetherlandsNED
17
1818
MGLMongolia74:4PeruPER
39
1940
CROCroatia74:46SerbiaSRB
19
2020
VIEVietnam4:47SingaporeSGP
77

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations


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