Chess Olympiad: Erigaisi Stunned By Little-known Thai As Indian Men Start With A 3-1 Win

Chess Olympiad: Erigaisi stunned by little-known Thai as Indian men start with a 3-1 win (Arjun Erigaisi stunned by little-known Thai as Indian men start with a 3-1 win in round one of the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Photo credit: FIDE)

Alriyami Faris Rashid: Defending champions India made a winning start in the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, but their 3-1 win over Thailand was marked by a stunning defeat for Arjun Erigaisi on the top board.

Even though most of the top teams and rating favourites secured 4-0 wins against weaker teams in the Swiss League event, there were notable performances like that by Botswana, who played a fantastic match to hold a strong Brazil side 2-2 despite their players starting the match trailing their opponents by more than 400 Elo on each board.

But Erigaisi's defeat to Thailand’s Prin Laohawirapap was the biggest upset of the day, even though reigning World Champion D Gukesh, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi won their respective games to secure a 3-1 win for the 2024 winner in the Open section.

Erigaisi had enjoyed the better position for much of the game, but a tactical oversight towards the end allowed Laohawirapap to turn the tables and secure a memorable win.

With both players running short of time, Erigaisi faced an extremely tricky position. He needed to find the third move to defend against the Thai player's threats while keeping his extra pawn and winning chances.

Instead, Erigaisi blundered and let his opponent unleash a dangerous sequence as his king came under attack. He tried to defend till 54 moves when Erigaisi resigned.

On the other boards, Gukesh defeated Alriyami Faris Rashid, Sarin beat Kulpruethanon Thanadon, while Vidit Gujrathi defeated Khumnorkaew Tupfah.

In other matches, Hosts Uzbekistan defeated Jamaica 4-0; top seed United States, playing without their top player Fabiano Caruana, beat Iraq 3.5-0.5; China blanked Uganda 4-0, as did Germany, Azerbaijan, France, Armenia and England among others.

On the other boards, Gukesh defeated Alriyami Faris Rashid, Sarin beat Kulpruethanon Thanadon, while Vidit Gujrathi defeated Khumnorkaew Tupfah.

Uzbekistan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, the United States, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, France and Poland also won their respective matches 4-0.

Article Source: IANS