Sasikiran will lead India at the Chess Olympiad

round 1 starts today in Dresden

In the absence of World Champion Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy, the Indian contingent will have to pull up their socks if they wish to make amends for last year's disappointing performance at the Chess Olympiad that starts here.

The 13th-seeded Indian men, led by Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran, finished a forgettable 30th in the last outing despite being seeded second.

Anand's absence in the Olympiad after his victory over Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the World Championship was expected given the amount of work and pressure the Indian ace had to handle in the build up to the match.

However, this provides an opportunity to the trio of Sasikiran, P Harikrishna and Surya Shekhar Ganguly to prove their mettle at the big stage. GN Gopal and Sandipan Chanda completes the five-member Indian team, out of which four will play each day.

The Indian women, seen as a medal prospect, will sorely miss the absence of Humpy. Unlike Anand, Humpy had decided long back not to take part in the Olympiad owing to rigorous tournament schedule.

In Humpy's absence, the 11th-seed Indian women's team will be led by junior world girls' champion D Harika, who will play on the top board, while Asian champion Tania Sachdev will play the second board.

Even the changes in the format is not expected to help India much as there are four boards compared to three. Nisha Mohota, Swati Ghate and Mary Ann Gomes will complete the Indian line-up in the women's section.

Report: The Hindu