A great day for the Indian teams
Iran maintains their sole lead heading into the final round of the Men section 14/16, followed by India at second place 13/16 and Uzbekistan third 12/16. A win in the last round guarantees Silver for India as Iran is expected to beat Republic of Korea. Among the Women, China is still the sole leader 15/16, followed by India 13/16 and Kazakhstan 11/16. A win or a draw gets Silver medal for Indian Women as China should have no trouble beating Unite Arab Emirates.
Men: Republic of Korea - India: 0.5-3.5
GM D Gukesh (2758) was determined to win against IM Jun Hyeok Lee (2379). He was playing for only one result - win. Thus, he decided to push for a win in a drawn endgame. His opponent could not seize his opportunity and eventually blundered, allowing Gukesh to win the game. GM R Praggnanandhaa (2727) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2712) won their respective games comfortably. While GM Pentala Harikrishna (2711) was on the verge of a loss against IM Hongjin Ahn (2252). The endgame expert somehow managed to salvage a draw in a lost endgame.
Jun Hyeok - Gukesh
Gukesh took a huge risk when he played 44...Ka5?? He obviously did not want to draw the game. Hence the risk and it paid off as White blundered in the resultant queen and few pawns vs queen and knight endgame. The game continued 45.Kc5 Nb5. Then IM Jun Hyeok Lee (2379) needed to go 46.Bc2 ensuring Black does not get any counterplay with his knight.
Replay Republic of Korea - India games
Women: India - Hong Kong: 4-0
All four women - GM Harika Dronavalli (2502), IM Vaishali R (2448), IM Vantika Agrawal (2435) and WGM Savitha Shri B (2375) defeated their much lower rated opponents comfortably.
Replay India - Hong Kong games
Replay Round 8 Men games
Replay Round 8 Women games
Men Round 8 results
Standings after Round 8
Round 9 pairings
Women Round 8 results
Standings after Round 8
Round 9 pairings
