India, Russia declared joint winners of Online Chess Olympiad after server malfunction
Chennai: India and Russia were on Sunday declared joint winners of the 2020 Online Chess Olympiad after the final was marred by internet disconnection and server malfunction.
Russia were initially declared winners after two Indian players -- Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh -- lost out on time in the final after suffering a disconnection with the server.
India lodged a protest against the controversial decision which was reviewed.
This was the first time FIDE, the international chess federation, was holding the Olympiad in an online format, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an official statement, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said the global internet outage severely affected several countries, including India so a decision was made only after carefully examination.
"Two of the Indian players have been affected and lost connection, when the outcome of the match was still unclear. 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 an unanimous decision, and taken into account these unprecedented circumstances, as FIDE President I made the decision to award Gold Medals to both teams," Dvorkovich said.
Legendary Indian chess player Viswananthan Anand shared his excitement by tweeting, "We are the champions !! Congrats Russia!," the wrote on his twitter handle after the final."
The first round of the final ended in a 3-3 draw with all the six games finishing in stalemate. Russia won the second round 4.5-1.5 with wins for Andrey Esipenko over Sarin and Polina Shuvalova over Deshmukh, leading to a controversy as the Indians claimed the losses were due to connection issues.
In the second round, Anand, coming in for P Harikrishna, had drawn with Ian Nepomniachtchi while captain Vidit Gujrathi drew with Daniil Dubov.
Koneru Humpy, the world rapid champion, was beaten by Alexandra Goryachkina and D Harika drew with Alexandra Kosteniuk.
In the first round matches, Gujrathi drew Nepomniachtchi, while Harikrishna and Vladimir Artemiev shared the honours.
In other matches, Humpy and Harika drew with Lagno and Kosteniuk respectively, while young prodigy R Praggnanandhaa and Deshmukh, too, held their opponents.
Reacting to the win, Humpy said, "Well it is a bit strange that we lost due to serve failure and our appeal was accepted. Well I can say, we fought till the end."
"Joint Champions Gold medal it is. First place medal Proud of my whole team #TeamIndia #ChessOlympiad," Harika tweeted after the final.
India enjoyed a great run in the tournament, beating among others the powerful Chinese team in the preliminary phase.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju congratulated the Indian side.
"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!," he tweeted.
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Seven killed, three injured in separate road accidents in UP
Mainpuri/Muzaffarnagar/Deoria (UP) (PTI): Seven people were killed and three others injured in separate road accidents in Mainpuri, Muzaffarnagar and Deoria districts of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Wednesday.
All incidents took place on Tuesday night.
In Mainpuri, three persons, including a couple, were killed near the Shitala Devi Temple on Devi Road under Kotwali police circle when a pickup vehicle hit a motorcycle head-on, Superintendent of Police Ganesh Saha said.
The victims, Dharmendra Singh (50), his wife Baby (48), both residents of Ferozabad, and Sanjay Singh (40) of Tavepur village, were on the two-wheeler and were on their way to attend the cremation of a relative when the incident took place.
According to police, the pickup and a Wagon R car were attempting to overtake each other when the former went out of control and rammed into the motorcycle, killing all three riders on the spot. Police rushed to the scene and sent the bodies for post-mortem examination, Saha added.
In Muzaffarnagar's Charthawal town, a 30-year-old woman, identified as Imrana, was killed while another woman was injured after a speeding car hit them on Rajbaha Road.
Circle Officer Ravishankar said the victims were walking when the car struck them, throwing Imrana into a canal. She was declared dead by the doctors.
Following the incident, villagers staged a protest demanding action against the driver, who fled the spot without the vehicle. Police said efforts are underway to trace and arrest the accused.
In another incident in Deoria district, three persons were killed, and two others seriously injured when a car crashed into a tree in the Baghochghat area late Tuesday night, police said.
The accident occurred near Haji Market when a Bihar-registered Swift car coming from Pakaha went out of control and rammed into a roadside tree, leaving the vehicle badly mangled.
Police said five people were travelling in the car. Three of them died on the spot, while two injured persons were admitted to Maharshi Devaraha Baba Medical College in Deoria.
The deceased have been identified as Karan Kushwaha, a resident of Gopalganj district in Bihar, and Pintu Kumar of Dulharpur village under Phulwaria police station. The identity of the third deceased is yet to be established.
The injured have been identified as Govind Kushwaha (18) of Sisai village in Kushinagar and Bhola Srivastava alias Sonu (22). Police said the occupants had visited a relative's place in Kushinagar and were returning after attending a wedding function when the accident occurred.
Station House Officer Anil Tiwari said police had to use a gas cutter to rescue the victims trapped inside the vehicle.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, and further legal proceedings are underway, he added.
