Indian missed several winning chances at Chess Olympiad: Harikrishna

TIL Desk Sports/ Several Indian players missed winning chances after being in promising positions at the just concluded World Chess Olympiad at Baku, Azerbaijan, but nevertheless did well overall, a top Indian Grandmaster (GM) has said.

Ranked fifth in the world based on the average rating of its top 10 players, the Indian team came fourth in the open category at the Olympiad. There is no doubt the Indian team played well, drawing with top seeds Russia and Norway and winning against Azerbaijan, the Netherlands and England, among others.

However, chess experts told that Indian players, though in advantageous positions, were at crucial times not able to convert these into wins and had to settle down for draws. “When you play a tournament like chess Olympiad, it is quite common to make mistakes. I think if you check the games, several players missed wins or went wrong after getting into promising positions,” World No.15 GM P. Harikrishna told.