Chess Olympiad: Indian women’s team draws with United States after Vantika’s win | Chess News – Times of India

International Master Vantika Agrawal secured an essential win against Grandmaster Irina Krush, leading India to a 2-2 draw with the United States in the ninth round of the 45th Chess Olympiad women’s section on Friday.
India decided to rest Grandmaster D Harika due to her average show so far. However, R Vaishali was unable to prevail on the top board, losing to Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, while Divya Deshmukh managed a draw against Carissa Yip.
On the fourth board, Tania Sachdev, who initially had a strong position, drew her game with Alice Lee after failing to execute the best attacking moves.This left Vantika with the task of equalizing the score, and she delivered by defeating her higher-rated opponent as black.
The draw brought India’s total to 15 points. The team now likely needs two more victories to maintain hopes for a gold medal.
Kazakhstan has taken the lead in the women’s section, securing a victory against Poland with a score of 2.5-1.5. Alua Nurman won against Alicja Sliwicka on the fourth board after the top three boards ended in draws.
India hold second place, followed by nine teams tied with 14 points each. In the upcoming round, Kazakhstan will compete against Georgia, while the Indian women face China.
In the Open section, the Indian men drew all four games against Uzbekistan, the defending champions. A win was within reach when Shamsiddin Vokhidov made an error, but Arjun Erigaisi did not capitalize on it. After this, Shamsiddin secured a draw.
D Gukesh and Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew their game after 32 moves, and R Praggnanandhaa had the same result against Javokhir Sindarov. Vidit Gujrathi was the first to finish with a draw against Jakhongir Vakhidov.
The Indian men now have 17 points from nine rounds and will face the United States, who recently won 2.5-1.5 against Hungary. The US, Uzbekistan and China are all tied with 15 points.