India in imperious form on opening day of Chess Olympiad

Hosts India sounded an ominous warning to their rivals when winning all six matches in both the Open and Women’s categories on the opening day of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Chennai on Friday.

Wilting under the Indian onslaught were the UAE, Tajikistan, and South Sudan in the Open category, while Wales, Hong Kong, and the Tajikistan women’ squads also bowed to the home team’s superiority.

The Chess Olympiad is being held in India for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1927 with a record number of countries in action. It is also the first time in 30 years that the Olympiad is being held in Asia.

The event is being held at Mahabalipuram, a seaside resort in South India. Chennai is widely regarded as the chess capital of the country and was the home of India’s most famous chess player, Viswanathan Anand.

Around 300 teams are competing in the Open category with 187 countries being represented in the women’s division. Of these, 188 teams are in the Open section and 162 in the women’s.

With the absence of Russia and China, the Indian A Team is seeded second behind the favourites USA.

Interestingly, the Indian teams did not drop a single match during a flawless day.

Indian Team B player Raunak Sadhwani was the first to register a victory with the White pieces when he defeated the UAE’s Abdulrahman Mohammad Al Taher in a Sicilian Defence game that ended on the 41st move.

India’s 30-member squad is believed to be the biggest ever in the Chess Olympiad.