The youngster even ended the game with a flourish! A confident Gukesh responded in kind, pushing his kingside pawns early on and then outplaying his famed opponent in a complex middlegame. Caruana, as he has done previously during the tournament, tried to grab the initiative with the white pieces the first time he got a chance. Conveniently for the spectacle, the 16-year-old was paired up against Caruana himself, in a match that was crucial for the US team.Īnd the youngster delivered once again, as he took down the former World Championship challenger with the black pieces. While Fabiano Caruana, the second-highest rated player in Chennai (behind Magnus Carlsen), has been struggling throughout, Dommaraju Gukesh has completely stolen the show in his hometown.Īfter his win over Cuba’s Carlos Albornoz on Friday, Gukesh had already “pulled a Caruana”, as he had equalled the US grandmaster’s incredible feat of winning seven games in a row from the 2014 Sinquefield Cup.

The performance of each team’s top board serves as a good illustration of how the tournament has been going for them. The two protagonists faced each other in round 8, and it was the local team which prevailed convincingly. Many of the previews to the Olympiad focused on two teams: on one side, the heavy rating favourites from the United States and, on the other, the incredibly young second squad from India. Saturday’s victory over ‘Hari’ required plenty of resilience, as he reached the following endgame with two bishops against a bishop and a knight on move 48, and only saw his opponent throw in the towel on move 102. Team leader Gabriel Sargissian delivered when it mattered most, as he defeated Fabiano Caruana and (now) Pentala Harikrishna after picking up four draws and a loss in previous rounds. It must be noted that the leaders did get a bit of luck in the seventh round, when Sam Shankland had to resign a drawn position against Robert Hovhannisyan after losing his concentration for a split second. Armenia is the 12th seeded team in Chennai, and one of two squads that have yet to lose a match in the event (with Uzbekistan).

Moreover, they are doing so without local hero Levon Aronian, who transferred to the United States last year - much like Vladimir Akopian. Now, with three rounds to go in Chennai, the Caucasians are leading the standings after having faced the two top seeds on consecutive days. Since Russia’s hegemony in Chess Olympiads came to an end in 2002, the squad that won the open section most times is not China nor the United States (if we only count the in-person events) - with three victories, in 2006, 20, it is Armenia who holds that record. Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > The ultimate chess experience every day, Pla圜 welcomes 20,000 chess players from all around the world – from beginner to grandmaster.Memorize it easily move by move by playing against the variation trainer.

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