Indian B team wins bronze medal at the Chess Olympiad being held in Chennai

The young India B team of Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Nihal, Raunak and Adhiban clinched the bronze medal in the Open section of the Chess Olympiad on Tuesday. This is India’s second medal at the competition after the bronze in 2014. India B beat Germany with a powerful 3-1 victory in the last round of the 44^th edition of the competition. Uzbekistan claimed the Gold medal as they had better tiebreaks than Armenia who had the same score of 19 match point. Armenia had to settle for Silver.

India's 'B' team at the Chess Olympiad consists of three 16-year-olds in D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Raunak Sadhwani.18-year-old Nihal Sarin completes the team. It has been a brilliant performance by the Indian youngsters.

Congratulations to the youngsters from India 2 for winning the bronze medals in the open section. 🥉👏#ChessOlympiad

📷: Stev Bonhage pic.twitter.com/T7iXSXIopp

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 9, 2022

D Gukesh turned out to be the most valuable player for the Indian B team. He ended the olympiad with a score of 9.5/11 as he drew two games and lost one. He won eight games in the tournament, defeating the likes of GM Fabiano Caruana.

In round 11, playing against Germany, Gukesh drew his game against Vincent Keymer while Praggnanandhaa drew with Svane Rasmus. It was Nihal and Raunak who scored victories and ensured a medal for India B.

India A also won the bronze medals in the women's section. The team of Vaishali and Koneru Humphy, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkari were headed for a gold medal on the final day but a defeat to the USA dented their chances as they eventually finished third and settled for a bronze. India finished the tournament with two medals in their kitty.

The 44th Chess Olympiad was the first time that the competition was being held in India, the place where the game began. The 2022 edition was historic as the tournament was contested between 188 teams from about 187 nations. India, who fielded six teams in total across both the open and women's sections, performed brilliantly.

The last two editions of the competition were held online in the year 2020 and 2021 respectively due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The next edition of the Chess Olympiad will be held in Budapest, Hungary in the year 2024.