Savitha rejects draw, embraces chaos to rescue India in penultimate-round thriller vs China - The Indian Express
A +3.6 evaluation out of the blue, a pawn down on the board and a decision that would define the Indian women’s team’s campaign in Samarkand. Under nauseating circumstances in the penultimate round of the 2026 Chess Olympiad, Savitha Shri B spent hours grinding out a defence against China’s Mo Zhai, before the scales tipped in her favour.
Beside her, Vantika Agrawal remained locked in an equally tense and unpredictable skirmish against Miaoyi Lu. Chasing a win carried the fatal risk of an overextension that could knock India off the podium entirely, and Savitha, instinctively leaning toward safety, repeated moves twice, teetering on the brink of a bittersweet draw.
And then, intuition took over. A captured piece rolled between the fingers of her left hand while her right hovered above the board, darting forward and pulling back. Another scan across the tables later, she made an instinctive call: instead of taking an easy exit, she would back herself to squeeze out a result. She slammed the brakes on the threefold repetition, played rook to d1 (45. Rd1) that instantly nullified every advantage.
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Savitha’s decision was a gamble that looked borderline reckless at the time, but in hindsight, it was the work of a genius. Shortly after, Vantika slipped to concede her first loss of the event. The handshake, hence, would have proven to be catastrophic, had Savitha taken it. That she did not, kept India alive.
Chaos ensued. In an endgame that swung wildly, Savitha came clutch. She outmanoeuvred Mo, converting a sensational win to drag India to a 2–2 draw. Sharing the spoils against China may not be the ideal result to wrest back control of the gold medal race, but Savitha’s eighth win of the tournament (8.5/9) kept India’s title defence breathing by a thread and ensured their fate on the podium remains in their own hands.
Vantika, unbeaten heading into Round 10, was forced into a marathon grind chasing a victory, an overextension that eventually came back to haunt her. Both her and Savitha found themselves carrying a heavy burden after Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh settled for quick, quiet draws on the top two boards.
The draw leaves India tied for third alongside Poland and Vietnam on 16 match points. China lead the pack with 18, while Kazakhstan sit second on 17. For the defending champions to retain gold, they would need an overwhelming win in the final round paired with big defeats for both China and Kazakhstan. Realistically, however, silver is now the best India can hope for in the women’s section.
