Indian Test Vice Captain Ajinkya Rahane on Monday congratulated the Indian team who were announced joint winners of the FIDE Chess Olympiad along with Russia. He Described this achievement as the “Proud Moment for the nation”.
There is certainly no point in denying that despite India has produced several Chess stalwarts like Vishwanathan Anand, Koneru Humpy and P Harikrishna but still this sport struggle to catch that much eyeballs as compare to other sports like Cricket, Badminton and Wrestling in our country.
Rahana congratulated the Indian Team through his official Twitter account as he wrote “Many congratulations to Team India on being declared the joint winners for the #Chess Olympiad. Proud moment for us as a nation. “
Many congratulations to team India on being declared the joint winners for the #ChessOlympiad . Proud moment for us as a nation! https://t.co/hCRfhIlZrQ
— Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane88) August 31, 2020
The moment came when two Indian Chess players Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh lost connection to their games and due to which they had to forfeit. After that Russia was announced as the winner but Indian officials filed an appeal and after investigation, both India and Russia were jointly decided as the winners.
It was the first Chess Olympiad that was conducted online since it’s inception due to COVID-19. The Indian team who took part in the tournament was amalgamation of experience and young lineup which include names like Vishwanathan Anand, Koneru Humpy, Dronavali Harika Harika, Harikrishna, Divya, Nihal and Vidit.
The first round which was played between Russia and India was also ended in draw as both the sides won 3-3 matches each out of six games.
The appeal which was filed by Indian official was based on consequent investigation as the players did not forfeit the game it was not completed due to poor Internet Connection.
Koneru Humpy was instrumental in India’s victory as she outclassed Monika Sochko of Poland in Semi-Finals. The moment she clinched the victory against Sochko it opened the doors for India to compete for the title spot. As rest of the players took huge confidence from Humpy’s performance and gave their best in the final rounds to earn the title for India.
