Chess Olympiad Round 8: India miss likelihood to shut in as Gukesh attracts; Savitha Shri saves ladies’s day

NEW DELHI: India had a clean sail within the open part of the 2026 Chess Olympiad till their Round 6 recreation in opposition to hosts Uzbekistan in Samarkand. We all know what occurred there.With the opposite three boards drawn, Nihal Sarin had a bonus in opposition to Nodirbek Yakubboev, solely to blunder his queen, the match slipped from India’s grip, handing Uzbekistan the lead within the title race. While Sarin’s blunder dominated the post-match dialogue in chess circles, some additionally requested whether or not globe champion Dommaraju Gukesh might have pushed his personal recreation a bit of additional as a substitute of settling for a draw.Vidit Gujrathi, briefly becoming a member of ChessBase India’s commentary panel on his relaxation day, brushed the suggestion apart. “Gukesh performs his personal recreation,” he mentioned. “If he feels there’s a likelihood, he pushes until the very finish.” India wanted precisely that within the Round 8 match-up in opposition to Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Muradli.With the opposite three boards ending in attracts, Gukesh wanted a win to settle the match and maintain India’s title defence alive, a defence that had seemed bleak even a day earlier.As Germany beat Uzbekistan on the different finish of the corridor on Thursday, a win for Gukesh would have put India inside touching distance of the brand new leaders. He pushed for one, proper till the place simplified right into a draw he could not keep away from.Playing white in a Najdorf Sicilian, Gukesh went for the bold 7.Qf3, and Muradli responded precisely with 7…h6 and a few energetic queen manoeuvres. Both sides simplified shortly within the early middlegame, with 16.Bxc4 Qxc4 17.Qd3 Qxd3 main right into a queenless place. Gukesh carved out some queenside house with 27.b4 and 28.b5, whereas Muradli locked down the centre and activated his king in response.The recreation changed into a fierce time-pressure battle from there.By transfer 35, each gamers had underneath two minutes every, however Gukesh saved the place balanced. Even after the time management, the ensuing rook-and-bishop ending proved inconceivable to crack — Muradli’s energetic rook checks, beginning with 48…Rb2+, pressured Gukesh’s king right into a repeating sequence, and neither facet might make additional progress.The gamers shook palms on a draw after 56…Rb2+, a resilient defensive show from Muradli in opposition to sustained stress from the globe champion.As issues stand, Uzbekistan and Germany lead the standings with 14 factors apiece. A chasing pack on 13 contains China, Azerbaijan, the United States, India, Armenia and France, with all hoping for additional slip-ups on the prime that they will pounce on.

Savitha Shri saves Indian ladies’s day once more

Savitha Shri’s dominant run on Board 4 continued into Thursday, stretching her successful streak to seven as India’s ladies held Kazakhstan to a 2-2 draw. It was Savitha, as soon as once more, who got here to her facet’s rescue after the group fell behind when Alua Nurman beat Vaishali Rameshbabu on Board 2.With Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy having already drawn their video games in opposition to Meruert Kamalidenova and Bibisara Assaubayeva, respectively, India wanted a win on Board 4 to remain within the title hunt, and Savitha delivered.It was a hard-fought battle in opposition to Elnaz Kaliakhmet, performed out by means of an Italian Game (Giuoco Piano) that changed into an extended strategic grind. After the quiet opening strikes, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6, either side manoeuvred patiently earlier than the middlegame pressure picked up.Savitha’s uncommon 11.Ra4 and the rook manoeuvres that adopted confirmed a willingness to play the lengthy recreation, and the place tipped in her favour after 25.Nf5 gave White a extra comfy construction. Queens got here off quickly after, main right into a demanding rook-and-pawn endgame.With each gamers deep into time bother, Savitha’s method held up underneath stress. Moves like 52.Rd5+ and 54.dxe4 saved her forward virtually, whereas 59.Rxd3 simplified the place right into a successful king-and-rook ending. Kaliakhmet resigned after 62.Ra2.READ ALSO: Father quit Singapore job, pawned jewellery to fund chess dream: Olympiad-bound Savitha Shri’s storyIndia stay within the chasing pack within the ladies’s part too, with China main on 15 factors, Kazakhstan and Mongolia on 14, and India on 13. With three rounds nonetheless to go, the race for each titles is much from settled. If something, it feels prefer it’s solely simply starting.