Chess Olympiad: Nihal Sarin blunders as India lose to Uzbekistan

Bengaluru: Nihal Sarin sat there, tormented. Captain Srinath Narayanan caught a peek at the board. It was the only game that was still being played in the high-stakes Round 6 India vs Uzbekistan Fide Chess Olympiad face-off in Samarkand on Monday. Games on the other three boards – Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi vs Javokhir Sindarov and Shamsiddin Vokhidov vs Gukesh – had ended in draws. Both in 2022 and 2024, matches between both these teams had finished in draws. This time, everything hinged on the fate of the Board 3 game between Nodirbek Yakkubboev and Nihal.

With reigning world champion Gukesh posted on Board 4, a Gukesh vs Sindarov prelude to the World Championship was ruled out pretty early.

Nihal – who had been the team’s saviour in Round 2 – had 30 minutes on his clock and a promising position with Black when he blitzed out his moves and blundered his queen. Instead of retreating his king, Nihal played 36...Kxg5?, bringing it into the line of fire and allowing Yakubboev to unleash a forcing sequence of checks.

With little over three minutes on his clock, the Uzbek played the brilliant 38.Ne6+!, a knight sacrifice that dragged away the rook guarding Black’s queen. Next, Yakubboev’s g-pawn captured on h4 with a check – 39.gxh4+ – forcing Nihal to respond to it, leaving him no time to save his vulnerable queen. Nihal’s queen was gone on the next move, and so was the match.

Defending champions India lost 1.5-2.5, their first defeat in this Olympiad, heading into Tuesday’s rest day. Five rounds remain. India are currently on 10 points, with Uzbekistan leading the standings on 12, followed by China and Armenia on 11.

In the women’s section, India defeated USA 3-1, with wins by Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri and Boards 3 and 4 respectively.