Chess Olympiad: Gukesh stuns Shirov as India B clinch fifth win

CHENNAI: Young Grandmaster D Gukesh caused one of the biggest upsets of Round 5 at the 44th Chess Olympiad by defeating former World Championship Challenger Alexei Shirov as India ‘B’ stunned Spain 2.5-1.5 in Mahabalipuram near here on Tuesday.

Gukesh not only extended his winning run at the event but also helped India ‘B’ register an impressive victory against the fourth-seeded Spain, the team’s fifth successive triumph in the Open section. It was the 16-year-old Gukesh’s fifth win on the trot. Incidentally, after the victory, he overtakes Vidit Gujrathi in the live ratings to be the third-highest rated player in India after Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna.

“I got a fine position after an error from him (Shirov) and slowly outplayed him. It is a pleasure to play against a player of Shirov’s calibre. To beat him is special,” Gukesh said.

B Adhiban was also in fine fettle, downing Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli in a strategic masterclass while Nihal Sarin held David Anton Guijarro to a draw. But, R Praggnanandhaa went down to Jaime Santos Latasa. India ‘A’ and India ‘C’ also notched up identical 2.5-1.5 wins against Romania and Chile respectively in other Open section matches.

Meanwhile in the Women’s section, India ‘A’ registered its fifth consecutive victory with Tania Sachdev once again clinching the winning point. The ‘A’ team defeated France by a 2.5-1.5 margin after Koneru Humpy, D Harika and R Vaishali had drawn their encounters. India ‘B’ lost to Georgia with a 1-3 scoreline while the ‘C’ team held Brazil to a 2-2 draw.

In the Open section, top seed USA, looking to get back on track after conceding a draw against Uzbekistan in the last round, secured a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory against Israel, thanks to a determined Leinier Dominguez Perez.

RESULTS (INDIA ONLY): Open: India ‘A’ beat Romania 2.5-1.5 (P Harikrishna drew with Bodgan-Daniel Deac, Vidit Gujrathi drew with Constantin Lupulescu, Arjun Erigaisi beat M Parligras, SL Narayanan drew with V Jianu); India ‘B’ beat Spain 2.5-1.5 (D Gukesh beat Alexei Shirov, Nihal Sarin drew with Davic Anton Guijaro, R Praggnanandhaa lost to Jaime Santos Latasa, B Adhiban beat Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli); India ‘C’ beat Chile 2.5-1.5 (Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew with V Henriquez, SP Sethuraman beat Ivan Morovic, Karthikeyan Murali lost to Pablo Salinas Herrera, Abhimanyu Puranik beat Hugo Lopez Silva).

Women: India ‘A’ beat France 2.5-1.5 (Koneru Humpy drew with Marie Sebag, D Harika drew with Sophie Milliet, R Vaishali drew with Anastasia Savina, Tania Sachdev beat Andreea Navrotescu); India ‘B’ lost to Georgia 1-3 (Vantika Agrawal drew with Nana Dzagnidze, Padmini Rout drew with Nino Batsiashvili, Soumya Swaminathan lost to Lela Javakshisvili, Divya Deshmukh lost to Meri Arabidze); India ‘C’ drew with Brazil 2-2 (Eesha Karavade drew with Julia Alboredo, PV Nandhidhaa beat Kathie Goulart Librelato, Pratyusha Bodda lost to Juliana Terao, Vishwa Vasnawala drew with Vanessa Ramos Gazola)