Hyderabad: On Sunday, history has been created. For the first time in Chess Olympiad history, India and Russia have been declared joint champions. It means both teams will share the gold medal. In the 96-year history of the tournament, this is India's first gold medal even though they will share it with Russia.
Notably, Russia won the Chess Olympiad gold 25 times (18 times as the undivided Soviet Union and seven times as Russia), the most by any country. From 1952 to 1974 Soviet Union won the tournament for a record 12 successive times. Later Russia won it for a record six times from 1992 to 2002, that is also a world record. They share this record with the United States who also won it six times.
However, this is Russia's first Chess Olympiad gold in 18 years. Prior to 2020 gold, India's best performance in the tournament was a bronze medal haul in 2014. Teams from more than 160 countries have participated in this year's online event, which began in July.
What is Chess Olympiad?
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE organised its first-ever Online Chess Olympiad with a rapid time control that affected players' online ratings.
What is the tournament all about?
Chess Olympiad is organised by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). This was 43rd edition of the event. The origin and history of the tournament can be traced back to the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. Chess was initially part of the Paris Games but due to little nuance between professional and amateur chess players, the sport was dropped from the Games' schedule. In the face of the rejection by the International Olympic Committee, an unofficial Chess Olympiad was organised at the same time. At the conclusion of the first unofficial Chess Olympiad on July 20, 1924, FIDE was formed.
In 1927, FIDE organised the first official Chess Olympiad in London. There were hiccups during the World War II, but since 1950 the tournament has been organised regularly every two years.
Who are eligible to participate in the tournament?
Each FIDE affiliated national chess association can register a team into the Olympiad. Each team is comprised of up to five players, four regular players and one reserve (prior to the tournament in 2008 in Dresden there were two reserves).
Who are the members of the gold medal-winning Indian team?
As India won their first gold medal, chess legend Viswanathan Anand has completed a circle. In his 32-year-old illustrious the Indian grandmaster has won almost everything, but Chess Olympiad gold was still a distant dream for him. So, on Sunday, his dream of a career grand slam has finally come true. Vidit Gujrathi (captain), Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh were the other members of the Indian team that won the gold medal.
Who are the shining members?
Captain Vidit Gujrathi (25) has earned his grandmaster title in 2013 while 29-year-old Dronavalli Harika was crowned grandmaster in 2011. Divya Deshmukh, Woman International Master, is the youngest member of the team. The Nagpur girl and his 16-year partner Nihal Sarin were in action when their internet connection crashed. Due to their good standings in the contests, FIDE declared India joint champions with Russia. Vidit, Nihal and Divya will definitely be looking forward to moulding legendary careers going forward in their careers. Wining gold at this stage of their lives will encourage them to play more and win more.
Being the senior-most members of the team Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy played their roles perfectly and guided the team to the gold medal winning performance.
What is the controversy all about? And how did India become joint winners?
A server outage resulted in India and Russia sharing the trophy in the FIDE online Chess Olympiad on Sunday. Nihal and Divya lost their internet connection during the final round. India appealed after two of its players lost connection to their games and forfeited on time. Officials said these were "unprecedented circumstances". FIDE decided to award both teams gold medals in the "absence of a unanimous decision" from the body's appeals committee. But the final is not the first time the tournament has come under scrutiny.
On Friday Armenia alleged that one of their players was disconnected from the server during its quarterfinal match against India, and lost on time. Its appeal was rejected and the country withdrew from the competition in protest.
Who says what?
Viswanathan Anand: "India winning the gold in the FIDE Online Olympiad will have a positive impact on the way the central government looks at the game and the players."
Koneru Humpy: "This win will prove to be a confidence booster for a lot of young kids who want to take up chess as a profession."
Dronavalli Harika: “I am sure this win will mean a lot to our players, especially the young talent. They can have the confidence of beating the best in the business after our performance,”
The complete Indian team: Vidit Gujrathi (captain), Viswanathan Anand, Pendyala Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, R. Vaishali, Bhakti Kulkarni, Nihal Sarin, R. Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambaram, R. Vaishali, Bhakti Kulkarni, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal.
