Online Chess Olympiad: India to face United States in semi-finals, China and Russia other contenders

The Online Olympiad play-off quarter-finals were held on Monday (local time) on the Chess.com servers. Four fascinating matches, two of which were decided by the blitz tiebreaks.

Based on the results and the knockout stage brackets, the semi-finals – scheduled for Tuesday are — India vs the United States and China vs Russia.

All 12 players and coaches of Indian team in one frame after a nerve wracking QF encounter against Ukraine at the @FIDE_chess Olympiad 2021. The first match was won by India 4-2, then Ukraine struck back 3.5-2.5 and finally India took the blitz tiebreak 5-1. Photos: @amrutamokal pic.twitter.com/2I3qO6AxEA

— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) September 13, 2021

The quarter-final match between India and Ukraine was a hard-fought battle in which India eventually prevailed in the blitz tiebreaks. The first match fell 4-2 to the side of the Indian squad thanks to wins on boards five and six.

Their main scorer was Nihal Sarin, who has netted six out of six in the competition, including two decisive games on Monday.

It’s India vs USA and China vs Russia in tomorrow’s semifinals of the Online Chess Olympiad. Your prediction for the final? #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/nEj1uvrWZG

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 13, 2021

However, Ukraine bounced back in the second match, winning by a slim margin (3 1/2 -2 1/2 ) and forcing the tiebreaks. The most dramatic game was the 114-move victory by Iulija Osmak against Humpy Koneru in a queen and pawn against queen endgame.

Finally, India advanced to the semi-finals with a convincing 5-1 score in the tiebreaker. They played much better in all the games, but luck was also on their side: Platon Galperin onboard five lost connection against Nihal Sarin on the move ten and was unable to resume the game.