While Sheva was in the middle of the interview, though, the n’s team had basically ended their journey in the tournant. Arfan managed to hold on for more than three hours, forcing a draw against GM Sethuraman, securing 14th place in the standings.
The n’s section was basically wrapped at this point, with Uzbekistan coming out as the ultimate winner of the Olympiad. This was probably the biggest surprise of the year, as three of their best players were still below 20 years old. However, that showed how good their potential was, as the highest-rated one, Nordibek Abdusattorov, was still 18, and yet, after the tournant was over, he would cross the 2700 threshold, entering the monster realm.
Well, no one was really surprised by his achievent, as a lot of people had already predicted that this would happen soon after the boy won the World Rapid Championship last year. Still, that showed that Uzbekistan would be the next big country to erge into the chess community, and none of their players could be taken lightly in any tournant.
As for India’s team... Well, it was a pity. The second team managed to secure the third place behind Arnia with only one draw deficit, and the first team failed to climb higher, having to be satisfied with the fourth place. In the last round, they were held back by the USA team, who were in fifth place, resulting in those two failing to get onto the podium. A disappointing result for the two best teams in the tournant, definitely.
The situation in the won’s section, though, was completely different. It was like a chaotic Hunger Gas, with no one knowing who would co out as the winner.
Well, at least one country had already secured its place on the podium. The country was Georgia, which snatched the first place from India after beating Azerbaijan in the last round. The win basically secured their place on the podium. At least, the third place would still fall for them in the worst-case scenario. However, their tie-break point was quite low, so they were still at risk of being overtaken in the top standings.
As for India’s team, to everyone’s surprise, they were beaten so badly by the USA, forcing them to step down from the top of the standings. They had to bury their dream to beco the number one here, and this was definitely a disappointing result for the country. India was so close to getting the gold dal in both sections, yet the chance slipped from their grasp in the last round.
Not only that, but India’s won’s team also had to pray here, as right now, three countries were still eyeing their spot. The first one was Ukraine, which still had a chance to get the top spot; the second one was Poland, which had been playing great and wanted to sneak into the podium, and the third one was the biggest dark horse in this tournant, Indonesia. Yeah, with their defeat against the USA, India’s score was too low, and with a win against Ukraine, Indonesia would be able to steal the last spot on the podium.
India’s only hope right now was for Poland to lose the matchup against Kazakhstan, while Ukraine and Indonesia’s matchup ended up in a draw. That way, those three countries would fail to overtake them, and they could get the bronze dal as a consolation prize.
They didn’t dare to hope a lot, afraid of getting hurt more in the end. However, when the news of Kazakhstan’s upset win against Poland, dragging the latter one down to seventh place in the standings, all the players in India’s won’s team couldn’t help but pray. Unfortunately, it seed that both Indonesia and Ukraine went all out here, so there was no way the ga would end up in a draw.
"In fact, this is not just the matchup to determine who will get the third spot between two countries," Claudia explained. Her voice was tense, indicating how nervous she was. "On board 3, Oliwia Kiolbasa from Poland and Vaishali Rashbabu have basically been cleared to get into the podium, with the forr getting the gold and the latter getting the silver dal. However, the third position is still pretty much open, and the biggest candidates to get that spot are still fighting on board 3, Big Sis against Anna Ushenina. So, yeah, this is not just the fight between two countries, but also between two players there."
"In fact, I also made a calculation beforehand," Sarah added helpfully, pulling out a piece of paper from the desk. "Anna Ushenina has the best chance to be on the podium here. If she won, she would even be able to get the silver dal with Vaishali being the third, and if the ga were a draw, she would be in third place imdiately. The only chance that Anna has here is if she wins the ga, as she would imdiately be in third place in the individual rank. That is why she plays very aggressively since the beginning of the ga."
Indeed, Anna was playing very aggressively in this ga. Going with the black piece, she wanted to take the initiative since the beginning, not letting Anna Ushenina lead the rhythm with a long and theoretical D4 line. No, she went for the Dutch Opening, the approach that Sheva had been perfecting since the beginning of his career.
This worked perfectly in Anna’s favor, not in terms of positional warfare, since everything was still pretty much equal, but in terms of ti managent. Compared to Anna, who helped Sheva perfect this system, it was clear that Anna Ushenina was not used to playing this opening. In 45 moves, even though the additional 30 minutes had already been added to the clock, the woman had already been down by 22 minutes once again. Right now, she only had 4 minutes on the clock compared to Anna, who still had 26 minutes remaining.
Everything went perfectly according to the girl’s plan, and she couldn’t help but clench her fist unconsciously.
’It is so close... Co on, I can do this....’
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