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Czech Republic players put on a display of sportsmanship at the 45th Chess Olympiad held at the SYMA Sports and Conference Centre in Budapest. During their clash against the Indian women’s team, the Republic players refused to start the clock till their opponents arrived for their second round match. The Indian team comprising Tania Sachdev, Harika Dronavalli, Vantika Agrawal and Divya Deshmukh got late for their match.
As the team members started to arrive, the tournament officials prompted the Czech Republic players to start the clock. However, in a heartwarming gesture by the team, the players refused to start the clock by politely declining and waited for their rivals to settle down. The video of the incident went viral on social media and the players have received appreciation for displaying sportsmanship.
India secure 3.5-0.5 win over Czech Republic
The Indian women went on to register a dominating 3.5-0.5 win over their counterparts in the clash. Vantika Agarwal began by giving away half a point in the first round, but Tania Sachdev went on to settle for a draw while the remaining three team members registered quick and easy wins. Harika and Vantika secured seamless wins over their lower-ranked counterparts. However Sachdev had to be satisfied with a 0.5 point on the last board.
Divya took down Natalie Kanakova to give India 1-0 lead while Tania drew with Martina Korenova. Later, Vantika dominated Teresa Rodshtein and Harika defeated Julia Movsesian. Speaking of the men’s team, the Indian team got off to another 3-0 start, headlined by D Gukesh’s win over H Stefansson of Iceland.
