India begin the defence of their FIDE Chess Olympiad title in the Open section in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Wednesday, with superstars on their side, and perhaps a trickier route to the title this time than it was in Budapest in 2024.
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju is in the India squad, in what will be his last tournament before the defence of his world title in Geneva in November, against Javokhir Sindarov. The in-form R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, and Vidit Gujrathi form the rest of the team, with Nihal replacing Pentala Harikrishna being the only change to the team that won the title two years ago.
What India achieved in Budapest two years ago was almost a once-in-a-lifetime performance. India recorded the highest score in the history of the Chess Olympiad, and in the aftermath, Vidit called it unprecedented, and said that he didn't think even this team would be able to break its own record in the future.
Now, captain Srinath Narayanan echoes that sentiment. "You can never aim for performances like that," Srinath says. "You just take it one game at a time and then things just start going your way. And it ends up happening like that. It's a benchmark for sure.
"But how often we reach that benchmark, we don't know. And we're definitely not reaching that benchmark, like, 10 out of 10 times."
Srinath has some decisions to make, particularly regarding board order. Last time, Gukesh was on board 1, Praggnanandhaa on 2, Arjun on 3, and Vidit on 4, with Harikrishna the reserve. This time, Srinath has some things to consider. How best to use Praggnanandhaa's incredible recent form? How best to use Gukesh, in the middle of this slump, but also in terms of getting him in shape for the world championship? How to use the sharp attacking ability of Arjun and Nihal.
They've reached a consensus as a team, Srinath says, not willing to delve into more detail before the deadline, simply because he doesn't want to give other teams the opportunity to know what India's plan is.
Reaching that consensus as a team was important, Srinath says, because this might be a team of superstars, but without being a team, success would be difficult.
Srinath saw this situation unfold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023. That was around the time when the superstars in India's team were also becoming rivals on the FIDE circuit, and it was also around the time the Candidates cycle was ending. "I would say the tension between the players was at the peak, because that was the first time we had teammates being rivals with each other directly" Srinath says.
However, Srinath and the team learned from that experience, that they just can't work as individual superstars. Once that realisation set in, they implemented their learnings at the 2024 Olympiad, and ended up with a historic performance. The key, Srinath says, was just being super-friendly and just being a normal group of boys in their early 20s having fun with each other.
That is why, this time, tough decisions have again been taken with the team's consensus in minds. Of course, individuals have their own preferences. But Srinath says he has a team goal in mind, and any individual preference at odds with the team's goal were just not considered.
So, how does a captain go about making the decision on who plays on what board?
It's about assessing where one can exert the maximum pressure on the opponent, Srinath says, while also being under the least pressure on their own. Mistakes happen because of pressure, so there is a delicate understanding between their comfort zone and the level of pressure, Srinath says, of things to look at when deciding where each player plays.
The elephant in the room, of course, is Gukesh's form. Srinath is not worried about his chess ability. The results will come soon, he feels, even if it's not possible to force those results to happen immediately, "like a thermostat". He says that in all the pre-Olympiad meetings they've had thus far and on their WhatsApp group, he's been chirpy and enthusiastic.
"I just want to see him happy and enjoying himself," Srinath says, adding that Gukesh has been playing a lot of turf cricket in Chennai, while also picking up a hobby or two along the way.
Of course, Uzbekistan, with the likes of Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in their ranks, will be a huge threat to India's defence of their title, but there are other strong teams too. For example, the USA with Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hans Niemann, Levon Aronian, and Awonder Liang. So too China, with Wei Yi, Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Xu Xiangyu, and Kong Xiangrui.
Germany, with their top player Vincent Keymer, and Matthias Blubaum, who played at the Candidates tournament earlier this year, are a much-improved team as well.
In general, Srinath says, any team with an average rating of 2600 is one that is capable of winning against a major team on any given day.
There are huge expectations, but Srinath is confident that India's superstars can handle that expectation, because they're used to doing that on an individual level throughout the year.
After history at Budapest, India's challenge will be a stiff one in Samarkand, but it is one that this team and its captain are capable of coming through with flying colours.
