Gold for India & Russia in the inaugural FIDE Online Olympiad 2020

India and Russia were declared the co-champions in the inaugural FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 after the second match got affected by global power outage. Indian GM Nihal Sarin and WIM Divya Deshmukh lost their games due to disconnection & India preferred an appeal. In view of the global power outage, India’s request was considered favorably and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich decided to award Gold medals to both India and Russia. Earlier, the India vs Russia first match ended 3-3 with all the six games ending in draws.

Indian team comprised of : Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (Captain), Pentala Harikrishna, Aravindh Chithambaram V R, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Vaishali R, Bhakti Kulkarni, Nihal Sarin, Praggnanandhaa R, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal & Srinath Narayanan (Vice Captain).

The Russian team comprised of : Grischuk Alexander, Nepomniachtchi Ian, Lagno Kateryna, Goryachkina Aleksandra, Esipenko Andrey, Shuvalova Polina, Dubov Daniil, Artemiev Vladislav, Kosteniuk Alexandra, Gunina Valentina, Sarana Alexey, Potapova Margarita.

The 163 team mega event, with 5 Divisions, went on from 24th July to 30th August, 2020.

“The Online Chess Olympiad has been impacted by a global internet outage that severely affected several countries, including India. Two of the Indian players have been affected and lost connection, when the outcome of the match was still unclear. The Appeals Committee has examined all the evidence provided by Chess.com, as well as information gathered from other sources about this internet outage. After being informed of their considerations and in absence of an unanimous decision, and taken into account these unprecedented circumstances, as FIDE President I made the decision to award Gold Medals to both teams.”

Complete Results : http://chess-results.com/tnr533591.aspx?lan=1&art=3&turdet=YES&flag=30