Russia, India become co-champions of first-ever FIDE online Chess Olympiad after internet outage

The Indian players Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh lost connection to their games and forfeited on time.

Photo: https://olymp.fide.com/

New Delhi: India and Russia on Sunday (August 30, 2020) became the co-champions of the first-ever FIDE online Chess Olympiad after the game was halted due to the internet outage, said International Chess Federation (FIDE).

FIDE in an official statement said that the Online Chess Olympiad was impacted by a global internet outage, that severely affected several countries, including India and added that two of the Indian players were affected and lost connection when the outcome of the match was still unclear.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said, "The Appeals Committee has examined all the evidence provided by Chess.com, as well as information gathered from other sources about this internet outage. After being informed of their considerations and in absence of a unanimous decision, and taken into account these unprecedented circumstances, as FIDE President I made the decision to award Gold Medals to both teams."

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made a decision to give gold medals of FIDE Online #ChessOlympiad to both teams - India and Russia. More details & an official statement to follow. — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 30, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his official Twitter account and wrote, "Congratulations to our chess players for winning the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad. Their hard work and dedication are admirable. Their success will surely motivate other chess players. I would like to congratulate the Russian team as well."

Congratulations to our chess players for winning the FIDE Online #ChessOlympiad. Their hard work and dedication are admirable. Their success will surely motivate other chess players. I would like to congratulate the Russian team as well.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 30, 2020

India's chess legend Viswanathan Anand who also played in the Online Olympiad congratulated the Russian side.

We are the champions !! Congrats Russia! — Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) August 30, 2020

India's Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also extended their wishes. 

I congratulate our Indian contingent that won the Gold at the @FIDE_chess Online Chess Olympiad. India was declared the joint winner with Russia. My heartiest wishes to all players!

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) August 30, 2020

Congratulations India and Congratulations Russia  #Chess #IndianChess https://t.co/Fq6qRwv2ml — Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 30, 2020

Earlier in the final match, the Indian players Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh lost their internet connection and forfeited on time. 

The Russian team entered the final after beating the USA on August 29.  They won the first round by minimal margin and then drew the second match to book their berth in the final.

On the other hand, India defeated Poland to become the first finalist of the Online Chess Olympiad. India had to come from behind after losing 4-2 in the first round. Notably, before this win, India's best result at a Chess Olympiads was the third place in Tromsø in 2014.