India, Sept. 23 -- With four rounds remaining, hosts Uzbekistan are setting a scorching pace in the Open section of the Fide Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. They lead the standings with a perfect 14/14 match points, with five teams on 12 - defending champions India among them.

In Round 7 on Wednesday, India defeated England 2.5-1.5, with wins from R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh on Boards 1 and 4 respectively. Arjun Erigaisi drew against English veteran Michael Adams, while Nihal Sarin suffered his second successive defeat, this time to Luke McShane.

It has been a markedly different campaign from Budapest two years ago, when India's performance screamed dominance and they wrapped up gold with a round to spare. Back then, India had Gukesh (9/...