Arjun and Harika to spearhead India’s challenge at Olympiad

Koneru Humpy absent from Indian women's team at Chess Olympiad, but India remains top contender with strong players.

Koneru Humpy is not part of the Indian women’s team for the Chess Olympiad.

She is not just the country’s best female player by some distance but one of the strongest in the history of the women’s game as well. She is ranked No. 6 in the world.

Even in her absence, India starts as one of the favourites for the women’s title in the ultimate team competition in chess, which was inaugurated at Budapest on Tuesday.

India is, in fact, the top seed.

Humpy had led her team to the bronze medal at the last Olympiad, at Mamallapuram, near Chennai, in 2022.

The Indian men didn’t disappoint, either. India-2 won the bronze in the open section. As the host, India had fielded three teams each in either section.

There is no such luxury in the mammoth tournament – teams from 197 countries are in the fray – this time around, but both the men and the women from India will be in focus. The men are seeded second.