Samarkand, Sept. 18 -- The Indian men's side delivered a 3-1 victory over an all-Grandmaster team from Italy, with Nihal Sarin coming good yet again and reigning world champion D Gukesh returning to winning ways at the 46th Chess Olympiad here on Friday.
Meanwhile, the women's squad crashed through the defences of Greece with a 3.5-0.5 victory to remain in pole position after the third round. At the top of the tables, R Praggnanandhaa was not able to squeeze out a victory for the second day running against Lorenzo Lodici, but the team-mates Nihal Sarin and Gukesh ensured that an emphatic victory against the Italy was pretty much on cards.
While Nihal accounted for Francesco Sonis, Sabino Brunello was on the receiving end against Gukesh on the fourth board as the Indian think tank decided to field its top team for the first time in the tournament.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.