India have been announced joint winners of the Fide Chess Olympiad after Fide president Arkady Dvorkovich decided to award the gold medal to both the teams.
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 had appealed the controversial decision. Deshmukh was in a winning position when apparently the Indian players lost internet connection leading to loss of connection to the server.
However, Fide, the international chess federation, have reversed the decision and will release a statement on the issue. This was the first time Fide was holding the Olympiad in an online format.
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
India were represented by Vidit Gujrathi, who was th team captain, former world champion Viswanathan Anand, Koneru Humpy, D Harika, R Praggnanandhaa, Pentala Harikrishna and Divya Deshmukh, who were playing in their first Olympiad final against Russia.
India had beaten Poland in the semi-finals to reach the final on Sunday.