Teenager R Praggnanandhaa helps Indian team beat China in FIDE Online Chess Olympiad

R Praggnanandhaa and Divya Deshmukh led India to their victory against China at the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad. Both Pragganandhaa and Deshmukh bagged crucial wins as India beat China 4-2 in the ninth and final round of the Top Division Pool ‘A’ in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad on Sunday. The Indian team's quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday, August 28. 

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India vs China: R Praggnanandhaa helps Team India win at the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad

India's victory was possible after four draws and two wins on the Under-20 boards. While 15-year-old Praggnanandhaa could have lost the match, he pulled through with a perfect 6/6 score against China's Liu Yan. Fourteen-year-old Divya Deshmukh, who has been the under-10 and 12 champion, beat Jiner Zhu to clinch her win.

The Team India captain, held off No.3 Ding Liren to a draw, while D Harika did the same for current world champion Wenjun Ju. The other draws were between P Harikrishna–Yangyi Yu and Koneru Humpy-Yifan Hou. Humpy is currently the women's world No. 1 player. Till now, Praggnanandhaa is leading by winning all five of his games, followed by Deshmukh, who has won four out of her five games. 

R Praggnanandhaa on his win against China during the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad

With 17 points and 39.5 board points, Team India secured the top spot in Pool A and are the first team to qualify for the upcoming quarter-finals. India's No.2 player, Harikrishna, spoke about how happy he was with Team India's victory and gave the credit to young Praggnanandhaa and Deshmukh for securing two of India's wins. The pool winner will directly advance to quarter-finals, while teams who rank after them will play a preliminary place of the knockout. 

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In the seventh round, Team India registering a 4-2 win over Georgia, where former World Champion Viswanathan Anand was held to draw by Levan Pantsulaia. India did well in the next round, recording a comfortable 4.5-1.5 win over Germany, where captain Gujrathi bet Rasmus Svane.

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Final Standings for Pool A

• 1. India – 17 points
• 2. China – 16
• 3. Germany – 11
• 4. Iran – 9
• 5-6. Mongolia & Georgia – 8
• 7. Indonesia – 8
• 8. Uzbekistan – 7
• 9. Vietnam – 6
• 10. Zimbabwe – 0

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(Image credits: Player's official Facebook account)