Bengaluru, Sept. 16 -- Being the team to beat is an odd burden in sport. India will carry it to the Fide Chess Olympiad, which begins in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Wednesday, along with a line-up that makes the 'defending champion' tag feel both deserved and demanding. The Open team, seeded second behind the USA, is packed with star players: reigning world champion D Gukesh, the year's most impressive player R Praggnanandhaa, the chaotic, creative genius Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi. The top-seeded women's team will have Women's World Championship challenger Vaishali R, reigning World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy, as well as Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri Baskar. "In the pre-2700-27...