D Gukesh ‘tricks’ Germany, keeps Indian challenge alive at Chess Olympiad

Gukesh spooked Alexander Donchenko, helping India score a seemingly unlikely victory over overnight joint leaders Germany in the ninth round of the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Friday.The win helped India move to 15 match-points, one behind leaders and hosts Uzbekistan (16), who humbled USA. Nodirbek Yakubboev scored another crucial win for the hosts, this time over Hans Niemann. Uzbekistan’s second-strength team and Armenia are also level with India on points with just two rounds remaining.India women (15 points) humbled Uzbekistan 3-1 but are still trailing China (17) by two match-points. China, who have not fielded their full-strength team, continued their march towards the gold medal with a win over Armenia, in which Zhu Jiner and Lu Miaoyi scored full points.The draw between Kazakhstan and Mongolia (15 each) also helped India, as neither could overtake them. Divya Deshmukh and Vanitka Agrawal, individual gold medallists in the last Olympiad, scripted the success of the Indian women as they defeated lower-rated opponents.B Savitha Shri’s stunning sequence of seven successive wins came to an end with a draw against Guildona Karimova (Elo 2242), while K Humpy held her own on the top board.World champion Gukesh once again showed why he is such a dangerous rival. Germany, somewhat surprisingly, decided to rest Rasmus Svane, who had two successive wins in the preceding rounds, and chose to field Donchenko against Gukesh.The 28-year-old German almost justified the faith shown in him by pushing Gukesh to a corner. However, he then gave too much importance to Gukesh’s h-pawn and misplaced his pieces.ALSO READ: 'Not too much pressure': How Zhu Jiner turned struggles in India into taking China closer to Chess Olympiad gold | ExclusiveWhile this drama was unfolding, Nihal Sarin had already drawn his game against Frederik Svane despite flirting with danger and mental abyss. R Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi Arjun were unable to break through the defences of Vincent Keymer and Matthias Blubaum respectively.Arjun had even sacrificed his knight but reached a queen-and-extra-pawns versus queen, bishop-and-pawns endgame. However, with Gukesh turning the tables, the draws by Arjun and Praggnanandhaa were no longer a losing cause.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.