Chess Olympiad Round 7: India's chances of gold get bleaker despite win in open; women still in hunt

NEW DELHI: India will look back at Nihal Sarin's loss before the rest day and wonder what might have happened had he taken a few more minutes — he had plenty of time on the clock, more than enough to have avoided the queen blunder that cost India their Round 6 match against Uzbekistan on Monday. When the players returned to the board for Round 7 in Samarkand on Wednesday, following Tuesday's rest day, the overall picture in the race for gold remained largely unchanged.Another hope of an Uzbek slip-up, this time at the hands of an in-form Chinese team, evaporated as the hosts won 3-1, moving a step closer to another coveted Chess Olympiad title. India's open team also won on the day, though not as comfortably as the Uzbeks.India's opponents were England, and with Dommaraju Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa having already wrapped up wins on their boards, the team's fate no longer rested on Nihal, which was just as well, because he lost again on Board 3, this time in a marathon 88-move battle against Luke McShane.McShane, playing white, produced a stubborn, fighting performance against the higher-rated Nihal.The Englishman took the initiative early, pushing pawns on both the queenside and kingside, while Nihal hit back with active piece play and a dangerous-looking attack on White's king.The position stayed unresolved for a long time, and by the time both players were down to their final seconds on the clock, the game had turned into a test of nerve as much as calculation.McShane held firm, found the right defensive moves under pressure, and gradually turned his rooks into the more active pieces on the board.The turning point came with 66.Re8, forcing off a pair of rooks and steering the game into a simplified endgame. This was exactly the kind of position where McShane's advanced f-pawn and increasingly active king took over.From there, he picked off Nihal's pawns one by one, and after nearly seven hours of play,Nihal resigned on move 88.It left Nihal with back-to-back individual losses at a tournament where he had otherwise been one of India's most reliable performers.India closed out the England match 2.5-1.5, with wins from Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh outweighing Nihal's loss and Arjun Erigaisi's draw.It keeps India firmly in the group chasing Uzbekistan, who remain the only team with a perfect record after seven rounds, a gap that will be hard to close with just four rounds left.Savitha Shri, a potent force for India at 2026 Chess OlympiadIf the open section's gold hopes are fading, India's women's team gave every reason to believe theirs are still very much alive, and 19-year-old Savitha Shri has been a big part of why.The Chennai-born player has now played six games at this Olympiad and won every single one, and Wednesday's win over Germany's Lara Schulze followed the same pattern.After a fairly balanced opening, Savitha. with the Whites, gradually seized control with active piece play and mounting pressure on the kingside.The position turned complicated around the 34th move, when she allowed a trade of pieces that led into a tricky rook-and-knight endgame, one she navigated calmly even as Schulze fell into serious time trouble.Savitha's rook grew increasingly active from there, picking off pawns and creating threats on both sides of the board, and though Schulze tried to fight back, Savitha never let her king come under real danger.In a phase that tested patience above all else, with both players short on time, Savitha pushed her kingside pawns forward until 88.g6+ proved decisive, leaving Schulze unable to save her rook.It capped a near-90-move grind with a well-earned win and helped India rout Germany 3.5-0.5, with Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh also winning their games and Vaishali Rameshbabu drawing on Board 2.ALSO READ: Juggling Chess Olympiad prep and a commentary gig in India: The other side of USA's only female GM Irina KrushWith India's open team hoping now for an unlikely Uzbek slip, they face Azerbaijan in Round 8 on Thursday. The women's team, who still hold better medal chances than their male counterparts on current form, take on Kazakhstan.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.