‘Rest put me to the test’

Veteran P Harikrishna on how he played his part by competing well against China after break days in India’s recent victorious chess Olympiad campaign

Pentala Harikrishna became a Grandmaster at the age of 14 in 2000 and even played his first Olympiad. But he could finally capture a gold medal in his 11th attempt. Now 38, Harikrishna was part of the Indian team that made history at Budapest.

This Guntur-born boy credited the young team of Gukesh, Arjun Erigiasi, Vidit Gujrathi and V Praggnanandhaa for the dream run at the Olympiad. “It is a fulfilment of my dream since 2000 when I first played as a 14-year-old kid. We had an amazing team and the strongest ever in the history of Indian chess,’’ said Harikrishna from Prague, where he now resides.

Harikrishna stressed the young team lived up to expectations: “They handled the pressure very well. But we were pretty confident about our chances. Everyone was eager to play and give their best performance. That can be seen in the quality of the games.”

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Ready to step in anytime

Harikrishna, the senior most member of the team, said he was ready to step in whenever the team required him as he had the experience to play on all the boards. “I have the experience of adjusting to the situation and was ready to step in whenever the team needed me.’’

The veteran played three games, won two and drew one. “It was not easy to step up and play after several rest days. I played against China after four days of rest. I played a good game. Vidit was rested so that he could save energy for the remaining four games. I also took up the task to relax the youngsters,” he said.

The difference between the Chennai campaign two years ago and this year was that the players had a good back up and prepared well with the coaches. “The players were all focussed. I was surprised by their energy and enthusiasm. Gukesh played an amazing role as the top board. He led the way not only on the board, but also showed admirable maturity. He was absolutely a team player. Arjun blended as a hard hitter on Board 3 and by ratings, he is the highest rated, but he graciously agreed to play on board 3 and proved in every round that the team can rely on his game.

“I played three games and scored 2.5 points and I could have won the third games as well against Chinese player Wang Yue.’’

‘No cakewalk anymore’

Harikrishna pointed out that the game has changed completely. “Back in 2000, you could say that only a few teams were capable of winning medals. Nowadays with the evolution of chess engines, we have enormous talent from many countries and even though their ratings are lower, they are no cake walk like before.”

The Indian GM signed off by saying, “The future of Indian chess is promising and it will get bigger in the coming years with many youngsters leading the way.”

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