Led by Koneru Humpy on the top board, the top-seeded Indian Women's team asserted their supremacy on the lower-ranked Tajikistan in the first round of the 44th Chess Olympiad that got underway after a glittering opening ceremony on Thursday.

In what turned out to be a short hassle due to huge media present to cover the event, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Mr. Anurag Thakur – The Union Cabinet Minister for the Information and Broadcasting as well as Sports in India, Mr S Meyyanathan, Sports Minister Tamil Nadu, Dr Sanjay Kapoor, President AICF made the symbolic first moves on a few boards.

Meanwhile, there were no upsets on the opening day as almost all the seasoned teams scored identical 4-0 victories. Notable among them were second seed Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, France, Azerbaijan and USA. Teams like Germany, Armenia and Kazakhstan also whitewashed their opponents, winning all the games on all four boards.

If the Indian eves were stretched a little by the Tajik women, second seed Ukraine was quite brutal in stamping their authority over South Africa.

Anna Muzychuk was up to the challenge against Jesse February, a popular steamer and the current African champion, and Anna Ushenine coasted to a crushing victory over Chloe Badenhorst. On the remaining two boards, it was also smooth sailing for the Ukrainian ladies that reminded them of their strong presence here in the absence of Russia and China.

The Women's Chess Olympiad is an 11-round team Swiss competition with the winner awarded based on the match points (two points for a match win and one for a draw). Each team includes four main players plus one reserved player.

The winner of the last Olympiad, China, skipped the event without giving many reasons, but most likely, it was the impact of Covid that stalled the chess activities and tournaments for almost 18-20 months across the globe.

Russian women are the other notable absentees due to the sanctions by FIDE after the war with Ukraine. With China and Russia out of the fray, the focus is on the Indian team that is the top seed for the first time in the event ever. Apart from Humpy, a lot has been spoken about 8-month pregnant Harika, who decided to play.

A real challenge could also come from the Georgia team lead by Nino Batsiashvili (pictured above), a four-time champion with some seasoned campaigners in the line-up.

"This is the biggest platform in the world for chess players, and it gives me immense pleasure to launch the first move of the event. I have been Chairman of the last FIFA world cup in Russia, but Chess remains my first love. It is indeed a pleasure to see that the organization has made some great efforts to ensure maximum comfort in stay, a fantastic venue and some brilliant facilities," said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich in a private conversation with the team.

For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results.

Text: Vishal

Photo: Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage