R. Praggnanandhaa of India plays against Peter Leko of Hungary during the Hungary vs. India match in the 6th round of the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
The Indian men’s dominance at the Chess Olympiad was complete. The difference between India and the nearest rival was four points, that is something like winning a five-match cricket Test series in Australia 4-0.
The maximum points a team could have scored was 22 points. India scored 21.
One of the men — or the boys, rather — responsible for India’s easy ride to the gold in Budapest, R. Praggnanandhaa, says such dominance came as a pleasant surprise. “We were hoping to win the gold, but I didn’t think we would be able to dominate the event to such an extent,” he told The Hindu on Saturday.
“I knew if we gave our best we would be the favourites to win the gold, but there were other strong teams like the United States, China and Uzbekistan as well as some underdogs, so I didn’t think we would win 10 out of 11 matches.”
The 19-year-old attributes the success to team work. “Though we didn’t have time for a training camp in India before the Olympiad, as we were all playing in different tournaments, we have been playing together for some time, including the last Olympiad in Chennai,” he says. “We managed to keep our focus and give our best. Even the last match (which was a formality) we won 3.5-05.”
He didn’t have as good a tournament as he expected, and after beginning well by winning both his games. Then he had a series of draws, but he ensured that India scored enough points on the second board.
Praggnanandhaa focuses during the final round of the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
AP
“What really matters is that we won the gold, and we would not have settled for anything less,” he says. “I had some difficult games to save, like the one against Uzbekistan, which I did. Yes, my games could have been better.”
The Olympiad proved a double delight for Praggnanandhaa, as the gold-medal winning women’s team included his elder sister R. Vaishali. “The women’s team played really well and won all their first seven matches,” he says.
“Then they had a setback but came back strongly to win the gold. Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal were especially good and scored some important wins; they won the individual gold too.”
Praggnanandhaa says it is nice to see more corporate sponsorship coming into chess. “I have gained a lot from the support I get from the Adani Group, which is very important as I am continuously playing tournaments and training,” he says.
Published – September 28, 2024 05:49 pm IST
