New Delhi: India’s Open and women’s teams maintained their unbeaten records at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad after securing convincing victories in Round 3 on Friday.
The defending champion Open team registered a 3-1 win against Italy, with D Gukesh and Nihal Sarin providing the decisive victories. Gukesh defeated Sabino Brunello with the black pieces, while Nihal Sarin got the better of Francesco Sonis, according to reports.
India’s top two boards produced draws, as R Praggnanandhaa shared the point with Lorenzo Lodici and Arjun Erigaisi drew against Luca Moroni Jr. The results on the lower boards proved decisive as India secured another team victory.
The women’s team delivered an even bigger winning margin, defeating Greece 3.5-0.5. Koneru Humpy defeated Stavroula Tsolakidou, while Vantika Agrawal registered a victory over Ekaterini Pavlidou.
Savitha Shri B also scored a full point for India after overcoming Antonia Hristodoulaki. Divya Deshmukh contributed a draw against Anastasia Avramidou, completing India’s 3.5-0.5 scoreline.
Both Indian teams have now remained unbeaten through their first three rounds. The Open team had previously defeated Thailand and Indonesia, while the women’s team began the tournament with wins over the Dominican Republic and Finland.
With both squads continuing their strong starts, India has carried its winning momentum into the third round of the Olympiad.
