India and China will square off on the chessboard online on August 23. The match could produce some intense battles at the Chess Olympiad. The Olympiad opens on Friday.
With the qualification phase coming to an end, the draw has been made for the final phase. India is directly seeded into the top division. It finds itself in a tough group.
China is the winner of both the open and women’s sections at the 2018 Olympiad at Batumi (Georgia). It may be the only side stronger on paper than India in Group A. However, teams like Iran, Georgia and Germany cannot be taken lightly.
However, this time there is no separate competition for women.
The teams also have junior players this time.
Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy are the pillars of the Indian side. Skipper Vidit Gujrathi, P HariKrishna, D Harika, Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambaram, R Vaishali, Bhakti Kulkarni, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agarwal complete the strong squad.
Forty teams are to play in the Olympiad’s top division. It will go on till August 30.
The top teams from each group will qualify straight for the quarterfinals. Those finishing second and third will have to win playoffs for a place in the last eight.
The semi-finals will take place on August 29, and the final on the following day.