The New Indian Express ·
India players in focus once again at Chess Olympiad
BENGALURU: In sporting September will go into overdrive when the Asian Games begin in Aichi-Nagoya from next weekend. One of the biggest multi-discipline events in history -- over 15000 athletes -- will compete for continental glory and with Indians in the mix in a variety of events across the two weeks, the push for medals will be widely anticipated.
A few day before the Games begin, though, the stage will be set for Samarkand in Uzbekistan as the chess Olympiad -- FIDE's biggest team event -- starts from Wednesday. It will be another competition where Indians will be the focus, not least on the Open side for a whole host of reasons.
Firstly, they go in as defending champions. But keep aside the tag as one of the favourites -- they are seeded second behind the US -- because there are other factors to consider. Primarily, it's D Gukesh's form. The world champion, battling a ratings drop for over the last year, as well as the upcoming World Championship, hasn't played a game of competitive chess in over 50 days (July 22 at the Chennai Grand Masters meet). Which board will he feature in? Per ratings, he should be on board 4 but lest you forget; he's double defending individual gold medal winner from board 1.
