Highlights:
- Praggnanandhaa condemned his performance against Pelletier and admitted that the quality of his game was pretty bad.
- RB Ramesh, the coach of Praggnanandhaa, felt that it was preferable to succeed in a challenging test early on rather than later in the competition when the opponents become more complex.
- D Gukesh, in fine form, destroyed Nico Georgiadis with a direct attacking style that shook his opponent from start to finish.
R Praggnanandhaa reclined against the table, looking dejected as though he had lost the game against the seasoned Swiss Grandmaster Yannick Pelletier. Despite having to play catch up most of the game, the 16-year-old did win, but only because of better time management. He started out quite soundly using black pieces, but as the middle game approached, he began to stumble and seemed like he could lose.
Praggnanandhaa condemned his performance in the game and admitted that the quality of his game was pretty bad. He even felt bad for his opponent, Pelletier. He said he had misplayed and was not happy about this moment. He was unsure of what he did, made many mistakes, lacked knowledge, and lost control. Still unable to comprehend what had gone wrong, he acknowledged.
The adolescent appeared to move a little quicker than expected, acting on instinct rather than second-guessing his strategy.
The Swiss were entirely in control of the game at this point, and Praggnanandhaa appeared to be heading for India’s first tournament loss.
But he remained calm, pulling himself out of a tight spot by patching the holes and covering the fractures. He made the right decision by refraining from risky sacrifices that would have backfired against a rival who had already attained Grandmaster status before Praggnanandhaa was even born. The 45-year-old Swiss has tremendous experience, notably defeating Magnus Carlsen in 2015 using black pieces.
W W W ✅
— All India Chess Federation (@aicfchess) July 31, 2022
All 6 ?? teams complete their hat-trick of wins at the 44th #ChessOlympiad in Round 3 ??
Full results ?
Open: https://t.co/WWnghJBITI
Women: https://t.co/QbJO92bEO0#India4ChessOlympiad | @FIDE_chess | @DrSK_AICF | @Bharatchess64 pic.twitter.com/CtY3wfqHmo
Pelletier tried to defend himself and took too long to make his moves. But RB Ramesh, the coach of Praggnanandhaa, felt that it was preferable to succeed in a challenging test early on rather than later in the competition when the opponents become more complex. He was in favour of making mistakes, if any, in the early stages of the tournament than in the later parts. Playing aggressively at times might result in losing a game. Irrespective of winning or losing, it is necessary to have a look at how one has played in the game and what mistakes have been made. It is crucial to stay prepared for any situation or position in a sport.
However, none of Praggnanandhaa’s teammates was in danger. D Gukesh, in fine form, destroyed Nico Georgiadis with a direct attacking style that shook his opponent from start to finish. He has appeared to be the most in command and in the devastating shape of all the B team players. While Raunak Sadhwani quickly established himself as a dependable player and overcame Fabian Baenziger, Nihal Sarin, who occasionally made mistakes, showed more signs of regaining his form by defeating Sebastian Bogner. The B team is trailing the A team by 0.5 points, but with an unbeaten record of 12/12, there are rumours that they might win the game. But Ramesh worries more about his upcoming encounters with more formidable opponents. He is concerned that the young group may get fatigued soon.
However, the C team suffered a few losses when Suryasekhar Ganguly and Abhimanyu Puranik were forced to settle for draws. The women’s teams A and C also swept their matches, but the B team was forced to settle with draws.
Aryan Tari and Magnus Carlsen were held to draws by one of the best teams in the Open division before Lorenzo Lodici, and Francesco Sonis defeated Jon Ludvig Hammer and Johan Sebastian Christiansen, dealing a significant blow to Norway’s chances of winning the gold.