In the Open section, the India 'B' team, which has been in sparkling form, had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan as the in-form D Gukesh lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the reigning world rapid chess champion.
R Praggnanandhaa's ability to defend seamlessly in pressure situations and the deductive mind to quickly gauge his opponent's weakness is the hallmark of a world class player, national coach GM M Shyam Sundar said on Tuesday.
The India 'A' and 'B' teams registered comprehensive seventh round victories
With the Indian teams doing well so far, they can run into one another in the competition.
The Indian teams made winning starts in the Open and women's sections of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai on Friday.
The game incidentally was an old Sicilian where Shirov tried an unconventional ninth move.
India will be fielding three teams each in the Open and women's sections respectively.
In the women's event, Padmini Rout, R Vaishali and Bhakti Kulkarni posted wins in the first round. D Harika will be joining them in the second round, courtesy a bye in the first round.
With the top spot assured in the pool with a round to go, India was held to a 3-3 draw by a fighting Slovenia.
It has bolstered the home team's medal chances at the 14-day event, which is expected to see massive participation from more than 150 countries.
India 'B' blanked Estonia 4-0 in the second round of the Open section in the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai, on Saturday while the second-seeded India 'A' team defeated Moldova 3.5-0.5 to make it two wins from as many matches.
China would have been among the top medal contenders in the Olympiad and their absence would brighten India's chances.
In the women's event, the country's top player Koneru Humpy has 3.5 points with two wins and three draws after five rounds as does R Vaishali who has scored three victories to go with a draw apart from a loss.
In the women's event, India's D Harika drew with Nino Bastiashvili (Georgia) to move up to four points. She is in joint third place with six others.
India 'B' played out a 2-2 draw against Azerbaijan in the 9th round of the open section, while India 'A' and 'C' teams registered identical 3-1 wins in the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai, on Sunday.
Indian Grandmaster S P Sethuraman won the Barcelona Open chess tournament title in Barcelona, while compatriot Karthikeyan Murali finished third.
Gomes, who had beaten her Kazakh opponent in the first round too, continued her impressive form to post a 57-move win in the second.
Former women's World champion Susan Polgar feels that the rising strength of Indian players makes them favourites to grab three out of the six medals at stake.
Sankalp Gupta becomes India's 71st GM.
India was held to a 3-3 draw by lower-ranked Mongolia in the sixth round as favourites China grabbed the top spot in Pool A in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad on Saturday.
India's Dronavalli Harika defeated former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria in the third round of the FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament in Riga to grab a share of the lead.
Meanwhile in the women's event, Padmini Rout and R Vaishali joined compatriot Bhakti Kulkarni in the second round.
While Vaishali got the better of Ukraine's Inna Gopanenko in round eight, Rout defeated Russia's Baira Kovanova.
Indian players experienced mixed fortunes in the second round of the FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament here with two each in the men's and women's sections registering victories.
Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh shocked world number 5 Fabiano Caruana as India 'B' pulled off a superb 3-1 win over number 2 seeds USA in the eighth round of the Open section of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai on Saturday.
Indian GM S L Narayanan finishes second in chess tourney in Armenia
Humpy was no match for Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia, going down 2-9 while Harika was ousted by world No.1 Hou Yifan of China
Legendary Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand has joined hands with WestBridge Capital to launch an academy, through which the five-time world champion will train youngsters.
Anand firmly believes that India has enough talent to produce the next Chess World Champion
Vaishali fell behind early and could not catch up against Gunina, who had finished runner-up in the first leg.
Vaishali came back from 2-4 down to oust the experienced Ukrainian by winning the last two bullet games.
'It will be special. Looking forward to going to a world championship match without the tension of playing. I am a chess fan too and hope it will be a good match'
Vaishali, sister of the Indian chess prodigy and GM R Praggnanandhaa, scored impressive victories over Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) and Russia's Valentina Gunina on the opening day of the Blitz championship.
The announcement was made by Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on his Twitter page
Both Anand and Sethuraman inched themselves up to five points out of a possible seven and shared the joint eighth spot after a rather dull day that witnessed several draws on the top tables.
14 young Indian chess players including D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master, and R Praggnanandhaa will be coached by former World champion Vladimir Kramnik at a 10-day camp, in Chennai, from January 8. The camp, the second organised by Microsense, will also see Boris Gelfand, a former World title challenger, impart training to the Indian players.
Grandmaster B Adhiban finished tied third at the Chess.com Isle of Man International tournament after beating the highly-regarded Michael Adams of England in the ninth and final round, in Isle of Man (UK) on Monday.
Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna beat Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in his eighth round tie in the Moscow FIDE Grand Prix in Moscow.
It's been seven years since a chess player got the Arjuna award and the iconic Viswanathan Anand is hoping that India's triumphant campaign at the online Chess Olympiad will change this when the national sporting honours are announced next year.
Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Vladislav Artemiev of Russia in the eighth and penultimate round, ending the Indian challenge in the Isle of Man International Chess tournament on Sunday.
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