Kolkata: India and Russia were declared as the joint champions of the FIDE Chess Olympiad on Sunday after internet connection played spoilsport. This was the first time, India reached the final of the FIDE Chess Olympiad.
The first round of final finished as 3-3 draw after all six games finished in six draws. But in the second round, Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh lost connection. Initially, Russia was declared as the winner, but soon after India’s appeal and investigation, both the countries were declared as the joint winners.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made a decision to give gold medals of FIDE Online #ChessOlympiad to both teams – India and Russia. More details & an official statement to follow.
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 30, 2020
Among the women on Saturday, Koneru Humpy was the shining light for India as she defeated Monika Socko of Poland in the semifinals. “We are the champions !! Congrats Russia!,” the legendary Viswanathan Anand tweeted.
We are the champions !! Congrats Russia!
— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) August 30, 2020
Reacting to the win, Humpy said, “Well it is a bit strange that we lost due to server failure and our appeal was accepted. Well, I can say, we fought till the end.”
