Poor team spirit and a below-par performance by Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand were responsible for India's dismal performance at the recent Chess Olympiad, according to a senior member and an official of the team.
The Indian men went into the Olympiad, at Turin, Italy, from May 20 to June 4, as the second seeds and finished a poor 30th.
Anand could register only a 50 per cent score from his nine games, but another key member of the team, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, felt that lack of team spirit was an equally important factor.
"I think our spirit as a team lacked a bit. Anand was staying in a hotel from day one and Sasikiran also decided to stay on his own after reaching Turin," Ganguly said.
"I personally feel they were right in their decisions as the accommodation provided to us was sub-standard," the national champion added.
Ganguly's point was echoed by Bharat Singh Chauhan, treasurer of the All India Chess Federation and Asian Zone president, who was present in Turin in his capacity as coach of the Indian women's team.
"There was no team spirit, it is not easy to win a medal in such tough competition unless you perform extremely well as a team.
"We are looking for ways to make sure it does not happen in future," Chauhan said.
Asked why he did not stay in a hotel, or the whole team for that matter, Ganguly said the hotels were quite expensive and he could not afford it on his own.
For the first time, the Indian team had a sponsor in Canara Bank and each team member, according to his or her rating, was given a pay cheque for the Olympiad.
While Anand got Rs five lakh for his participation, both K Sasikiran and P Harikrishna were given Rs 75,000. Ganguly, Sandipan Chanda and Koneru Humpy received Rs 50,000 each.
The Indian men went to Turin high on medal hopes but none of six members performed to the level of their Elo ratings and, as a result, will lose important rating points after the disastrous campaign.
The biggest shock from the Indian perspective was world number two Anand.
"We had been obviously hoping for Anand to score at least plus-four or plus-five, as it was important for the team that the mainstay scores well," pointed out Ganguly.
"Anand was playing in the Mtel Masters that ended on the day we had the first round in the Olympiad and Sasikiran was in Sarajevo playing a strong tournament as well; it was evident from their games that they were extremely tired for the Olympiad.
"However, I still feel that given everything, Sasikiran played quite well against a very strong opposition on the second board, but then it was not enough."
Harikrishna said the food was a problem.
"It was just not suitable for me," he said.
Ganguly felt he just lost his rhythm owing to various matters towards the end.
"I was playing well up till a certain point, but in the second half I just could not keep the momentum and lost three games," he said.
The Indian women team finished 12th overall after running into top two finishers Ukraine and Russia in the last two rounds and it was a reasonable performance in the end by the dames who started as the ninth seeds.
After the below par performance especially by the Indian men, it is time now for an introspection ahead of the Asian Games, where chess is a medal sport for the first time.
While the presence of Anand, Sasikiran and Harikrishna makes India a natural favourite for the gold there, it remains to be seen how these players team up for the big challenge later this year.
Indian score card:
Men:
1. Viswanathan Anand - 9 games - 4.5 points - lost 19.2 rating points.
2. Krishnan Sasikiran - 12 games - 7.5 points - lost 4 rating points.
3. P Harikrishna - 12 games - 8 points - lost 4.43 rating points.
4. Surya Shekhar Ganguy - 10 games - 6 points - lost 10.5 rating points.
5. Sandipan Chanda - 7 games - 3.5 points - lost 8.2 rating points.
6. D P Singh - 1 game - 0 point - lost 10.5 rating points.
Women:
1. Koneru Humpy - 12 games - 8 points - lost 6 rating points.
2. D Harika - 12 games - 6.5 points - lost 3 rating points.
3. Swati Ghate - 12 games - 7.5 points - gained 21 rating points
4. Mary Ann Gomes - 3 games - 1 point - lost 1.2 rating points.
